Franklin BSP Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:FBRT) Sees Large Increase in Short Interest

Franklin BSP Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:FBRT) was the target of a large increase in short interest during the month of January. As of January 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,830,000 shares, an increase of 7.0% from the December 31st total of 1,710,000 shares. Currently, 2.3% of the company’s stock are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 357,300 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 5.1 days.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. FMR LLC grew its position in shares of Franklin BSP Realty Trust by 42.9% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,623 shares of the company’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 787 shares in the last quarter. Costello Asset Management INC purchased a new position in shares of Franklin BSP Realty Trust in the fourth quarter worth $58,000. KBC Group NV boosted its position in shares of Franklin BSP Realty Trust by 51.6% during the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 4,664 shares of the company’s stock worth $61,000 after acquiring an additional 1,588 shares during the last quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Franklin BSP Realty Trust during the third quarter valued at $168,000. Finally, Longboard Asset Management LP purchased a new stake in Franklin BSP Realty Trust in the 4th quarter worth $174,000. 59.87% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

FBRT has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Janney Montgomery Scott started coverage on Franklin BSP Realty Trust in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $16.00 price target for the company. B. Riley raised Franklin BSP Realty Trust to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $15.50.

Franklin BSP Realty Trust Stock Performance

Shares of FBRT traded up $0.08 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $12.70. The stock had a trading volume of 50,816 shares, compared to its average volume of 368,359. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.04 billion, a PE ratio of 15.44 and a beta of 1.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.67, a current ratio of 90.45 and a quick ratio of 90.45. Franklin BSP Realty Trust has a 12 month low of $11.96 and a 12 month high of $14.11. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $12.72 and a 200 day moving average price of $12.96.

Franklin BSP Realty Trust Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 10th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st were issued a dividend of $0.355 per share. This represents a $1.42 annualized dividend and a yield of 11.18%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 31st. Franklin BSP Realty Trust’s dividend payout ratio is presently 173.17%.

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).