Barclays PLC Sells 861,811 Shares of Redwood Trust, Inc. (NYSE:RWT)

Barclays PLC decreased its holdings in Redwood Trust, Inc. (NYSE:RWT) by 79.7% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 218,900 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 861,811 shares during the period. Barclays PLC’s holdings in Redwood Trust were worth $1,692,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in RWT. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake in Redwood Trust by 6.9% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 14,611,264 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $112,945,000 after purchasing an additional 941,223 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its stake in shares of Redwood Trust by 2.0% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 5,189,667 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $40,116,000 after purchasing an additional 102,274 shares during the period. Systematic Financial Management LP purchased a new position in Redwood Trust in the third quarter valued at $1,217,000. NFC Investments LLC boosted its position in Redwood Trust by 127.7% during the third quarter. NFC Investments LLC now owns 484,975 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $3,749,000 after purchasing an additional 271,975 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Verition Fund Management LLC acquired a new stake in Redwood Trust in the third quarter valued at approximately $101,000. 74.34% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Redwood Trust Price Performance

RWT stock opened at $6.57 on Friday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $7.11 and a 200 day moving average price of $7.17. Redwood Trust, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $5.45 and a fifty-two week high of $8.15. The company has a quick ratio of 44.36, a current ratio of 44.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 14.55. The stock has a market cap of $868.99 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.95 and a beta of 1.57.

Redwood Trust Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 30th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 23rd will be issued a dividend of $0.18 per share. This is a positive change from Redwood Trust’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.17. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 23rd. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 10.96%. Redwood Trust’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 130.91%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Redwood Trust from $7.50 to $8.50 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. JMP Securities lifted their price target on shares of Redwood Trust from $8.50 to $9.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, October 4th. StockNews.com upgraded Redwood Trust from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, November 11th. Raymond James raised their target price on Redwood Trust from $8.50 to $9.50 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $7.00 target price (down previously from $8.00) on shares of Redwood Trust in a report on Monday, December 9th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $8.03.

Redwood Trust Profile

Redwood Trust, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, operates as a specialty finance company in the United States. The company operates through three segments: Residential Consumer Mortgage Banking, Residential Investor Mortgage Banking, and Investment Portfolio. The Residential Consumer Mortgage Banking segment operates a mortgage loan conduit that acquires residential loans from third-party originators for subsequent sale, securitization, or transfer to its investment portfolio.