Short Interest in Starwood Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:STWD) Drops By 22.1%

Starwood Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:STWD) was the target of a significant decline in short interest in November. As of November 15th, there was short interest totalling 9,760,000 shares, a decline of 22.1% from the October 31st total of 12,530,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 2,670,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 3.7 days.

Starwood Property Trust Stock Performance

STWD stock opened at $20.30 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $19.98 and its 200 day simple moving average is $19.80. The company has a current ratio of 1.79, a quick ratio of 1.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.61. Starwood Property Trust has a 12-month low of $18.43 and a 12-month high of $22.29. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.84 billion, a PE ratio of 17.35 and a beta of 1.70.

Starwood Property Trust (NYSE:STWD) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.48 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.43 by $0.05. Starwood Property Trust had a return on equity of 9.93% and a net margin of 18.82%. The firm had revenue of $479.50 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $488.63 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.46 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 8.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that Starwood Property Trust will post 1.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have commented on STWD shares. JMP Securities decreased their price objective on shares of Starwood Property Trust from $24.00 to $23.00 and set a “market outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised Starwood Property Trust from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $20.50 to $22.50 in a research report on Thursday, September 5th. UBS Group raised their price objective on Starwood Property Trust from $19.50 to $20.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, November 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on Starwood Property Trust from $20.50 to $20.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Starwood Property Trust from $22.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $22.25.

Institutional Trading of Starwood Property Trust

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in STWD. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Starwood Property Trust by 8.1% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,345,000 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $108,960,000 after purchasing an additional 399,672 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in Starwood Property Trust by 5.8% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,109,988 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $43,002,000 after buying an additional 116,182 shares during the last quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Starwood Property Trust by 9.6% during the 3rd quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 1,725,473 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $35,170,000 after buying an additional 150,576 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its stake in shares of Starwood Property Trust by 27.1% in the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 1,313,824 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $26,106,000 after buying an additional 279,793 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James & Associates boosted its stake in shares of Starwood Property Trust by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 1,090,325 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $22,221,000 after buying an additional 6,616 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 49.82% of the company’s stock.

About Starwood Property Trust

Starwood Property Trust, Inc operates as a real estate investment trust (REIT) in the United States and internationally. The company operates through Commercial and Residential Lending, Infrastructure Lending, Property, and Investing and Servicing segments. The Commercial and Residential Lending segment originates, acquires, finances, and manages commercial first mortgages, non-agency residential mortgages, subordinated mortgages, mezzanine loans, preferred equity, commercial mortgage-backed securities (CMBS), and residential mortgage-backed securities, as well as other real estate and real estate-related debt investments, include distressed or non-performing loans.