NFC Investments LLC Purchases 9,550 Shares of Redwood Trust, Inc. (NYSE:RWT)

NFC Investments LLC grew its position in Redwood Trust, Inc. (NYSE:RWT) by 2.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 494,525 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after acquiring an additional 9,550 shares during the period. Redwood Trust comprises about 0.9% of NFC Investments LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 24th largest holding. NFC Investments LLC’s holdings in Redwood Trust were worth $3,229,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. bought a new position in shares of Redwood Trust in the 3rd quarter valued at about $39,000. Sovran Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Redwood Trust in the 4th quarter valued at about $63,000. KBC Group NV grew its position in shares of Redwood Trust by 86.7% in the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 10,313 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $67,000 after acquiring an additional 4,788 shares during the period. Verition Fund Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Redwood Trust in the 3rd quarter valued at about $101,000. Finally, CIBC Asset Management Inc acquired a new stake in shares of Redwood Trust during the 4th quarter worth about $86,000. Institutional investors own 74.34% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on RWT. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on shares of Redwood Trust from $7.00 to $6.50 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Redwood Trust from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, JMP Securities restated a “market outperform” rating and set a $8.00 target price on shares of Redwood Trust in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $7.75.

Redwood Trust Price Performance

Shares of Redwood Trust stock opened at $6.39 on Monday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $6.44 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $6.99. The stock has a market capitalization of $846.14 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.35 and a beta of 1.63. The company has a quick ratio of 44.36, a current ratio of 44.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 14.09. Redwood Trust, Inc. has a twelve month low of $5.45 and a twelve month high of $8.15.

Redwood Trust (NYSE:RWT) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.13 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.16 by ($0.03). The firm had revenue of $27.60 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $26.00 million. Redwood Trust had a net margin of 9.35% and a return on equity of 6.91%. Analysts forecast that Redwood Trust, Inc. will post 0.78 EPS for the current year.

Redwood Trust Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 24th will be given a $0.18 dividend. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 11.28%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 24th. Redwood Trust’s payout ratio is presently 218.18%.

About Redwood Trust

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.