Franklin Resources Inc. Has $548,000 Stock Position in Redwood Trust, Inc. (NYSE:RWT)

Franklin Resources Inc. increased its holdings in Redwood Trust, Inc. (NYSE:RWT) by 4.6% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 72,486 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,206 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc.’s holdings in Redwood Trust were worth $548,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position in shares of Redwood Trust by 6.9% in the third 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 lifted its position in Redwood Trust by 2.0% in 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 buying an additional 102,274 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Redwood Trust by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,038,438 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $23,492,000 after buying an additional 25,444 shares during the period. Ceredex Value Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Redwood Trust by 22.8% during the 3rd quarter. Ceredex Value Advisors LLC now owns 1,113,600 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $8,608,000 after acquiring an additional 207,088 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp increased its stake in shares of Redwood Trust by 21.7% in the second quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 976,283 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $6,336,000 after acquiring an additional 174,317 shares during the last quarter. 74.34% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Redwood Trust Stock Performance

NYSE:RWT opened at $6.44 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $851.80 million, a PE ratio of 11.71 and a beta of 1.57. Redwood Trust, Inc. has a 1 year low of $5.45 and a 1 year high of $8.15. The company has a current ratio of 44.36, a quick ratio of 44.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 14.55. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $7.09 and its 200 day simple moving average is $7.18.

Redwood Trust Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 30th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 23rd were given a $0.18 dividend. This is an increase from Redwood Trust’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.17. This represents a $0.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 11.18%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 23rd. Redwood Trust’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 130.91%.

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.