JMP Securities Cuts Redwood Trust (NYSE:RWT) Price Target to $7.50

Redwood Trust (NYSE:RWT) had its target price cut by investment analysts at JMP Securities from $8.00 to $7.50 in a report issued on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a “market outperform” rating on the real estate investment trust’s stock. JMP Securities’ price target points to a potential upside of 38.50% from the stock’s previous close.

Other equities research analysts also recently issued research reports about the stock. Jones Trading decreased their price target on shares of Redwood Trust from $8.00 to $7.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. StockNews.com upgraded Redwood Trust from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on shares of Redwood Trust from $6.50 to $5.50 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $7.50.

Redwood Trust Price Performance

NYSE RWT traded up $0.11 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $5.42. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 230,878 shares, compared to its average volume of 948,712. The company has a market capitalization of $720.10 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.41 and a beta of 1.15. 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 has a 1 year low of $4.68 and a 1 year high of $8.15. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $6.10 and its 200-day moving average price is $6.67.

Redwood Trust (NYSE:RWT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.16 by ($0.03). The company had revenue of $27.60 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $26.00 million. Redwood Trust had a net margin of 9.35% and a return on equity of 6.91%. On average, equities research analysts predict that Redwood Trust will post 0.78 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Redwood Trust

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in RWT. LaSalle St. Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Redwood Trust in the 4th quarter valued at about $37,000. Sovran Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Redwood Trust in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $63,000. KBC Group NV increased its position in shares of Redwood Trust by 86.7% in the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 10,313 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $67,000 after buying an additional 4,788 shares in the last quarter. Zacks Investment Management acquired a new position in shares of Redwood Trust during the 4th quarter worth approximately $74,000. Finally, Cibc World Markets Corp purchased a new position in shares of Redwood Trust during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $80,000. 74.34% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.