Short Interest in Starwood Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:STWD) Declines By 21.7%

Starwood Property Trust, Inc. (NYSE:STWD) saw a large decrease in short interest in the month of February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 10,860,000 shares, a decrease of 21.7% from the February 13th total of 13,870,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 2,200,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 4.9 days. Approximately 3.4% of the shares of the company are sold short.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Starwood Property Trust

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in STWD. Albion Financial Group UT bought a new stake in shares of Starwood Property Trust during the fourth quarter worth $28,000. Brooklyn Investment Group grew its stake in shares of Starwood Property Trust by 86.1% during the fourth quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 1,578 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 730 shares during the last quarter. Quarry LP bought a new stake in shares of Starwood Property Trust during the fourth quarter worth $31,000. UMB Bank n.a. grew its stake in shares of Starwood Property Trust by 69.7% during the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 1,746 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 717 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Starwood Property Trust by 83.2% during the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,881 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 854 shares during the last quarter. 49.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on STWD. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of Starwood Property Trust from $20.00 to $19.50 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their target price on shares of Starwood Property Trust from $22.50 to $22.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $22.21.

Starwood Property Trust Price Performance

Shares of NYSE STWD traded up $0.06 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $19.99. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,736,549 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,218,723. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.61, a quick ratio of 1.79 and a current ratio of 1.79. Starwood Property Trust has a fifty-two week low of $18.12 and a fifty-two week high of $21.17. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $19.56 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $19.81. The company has a market cap of $6.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.09 and a beta of 1.68.

Starwood Property Trust Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be given a $0.48 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 9.60%. Starwood Property Trust’s payout ratio is 174.55%.

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.