Franklin BSP Realty Trust (NYSE:FBRT) Trading Down 7.2%

Franklin BSP Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:FBRT) fell 7.2% during mid-day trading on Thursday . The company traded as low as $12.83 and last traded at $12.85. 76,829 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 77% from the average session volume of 337,563 shares. The stock had previously closed at $13.84.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have weighed in on FBRT shares. Raymond James raised Franklin BSP Realty Trust from an “outperform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and set a $15.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 12th. JMP Securities restated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $15.00 price target on shares of Franklin BSP Realty Trust in a report on Thursday, June 27th. Finally, BTIG Research restated a “buy” rating and issued a $16.00 target price on shares of Franklin BSP Realty Trust in a report on Friday, July 19th.

Franklin BSP Realty Trust Price Performance

The stock has a market cap of $1.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.51 and a beta of 1.44. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $12.96 and a 200-day simple moving average of $12.91. The company has a quick ratio of 88.39, a current ratio of 88.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.21.

Franklin BSP Realty Trust (NYSE:FBRT) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The company reported $0.41 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.42 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $53.95 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $54.64 million. Franklin BSP Realty Trust had a net margin of 53.82% and a return on equity of 14.32%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.44 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Franklin BSP Realty Trust, Inc. will post 1.57 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Franklin BSP Realty Trust Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 10th. Investors of record on Friday, June 28th were paid a dividend of $0.355 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 28th. This represents a $1.42 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 11.09%. Franklin BSP Realty Trust’s dividend payout ratio is presently 107.58%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Franklin BSP Realty Trust

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Franklin BSP Realty Trust by 0.5% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 8,973,474 shares of the company’s stock worth $119,886,000 after acquiring an additional 48,171 shares in the last quarter. Strong Tower Advisory Services boosted its holdings in shares of Franklin BSP Realty Trust by 18.7% in the second quarter. Strong Tower Advisory Services now owns 819,612 shares of the company’s stock worth $10,327,000 after buying an additional 129,410 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its position in shares of Franklin BSP Realty Trust by 5.9% in the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 702,184 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,848,000 after acquiring an additional 39,000 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Franklin BSP Realty Trust by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 670,299 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,056,000 after acquiring an additional 11,998 shares during the period. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its stake in Franklin BSP Realty Trust by 33.6% in the 2nd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 659,801 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,313,000 after purchasing an additional 166,120 shares during the period. 59.87% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Franklin BSP Realty Trust Company Profile

Benefit Street Partners operates as a self-managed real estate investment trust (REIT). BSP earns income from investing in a leveraged portfolio of residential mortgage pass-through securities consisting almost exclusively of adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) securities issued and guaranteed by government-sponsored enterprises, either Federal National Mortgage Association (Fannie Mae) or Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation (Freddie Mac) (together, the government-sponsored enterprises (GSEs)), or by an agency of the federal government, Government National Mortgage Association (Ginnie Mae).