Short Interest in Franklin BSP Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:FBRT) Decreases By 6.2%

Franklin BSP Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:FBRT) was the target of a significant decline in short interest in August. As of August 31st, there was short interest totalling 2,130,000 shares, a decline of 6.2% from the August 15th total of 2,270,000 shares. Currently, 2.6% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 344,500 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 6.2 days.

Franklin BSP Realty Trust Price Performance

NYSE:FBRT traded down $0.05 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $13.47. The stock had a trading volume of 33,329 shares, compared to its average volume of 331,755. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.54, a quick ratio of 89.36 and a current ratio of 89.36. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.10 billion, a PE ratio of 10.24 and a beta of 1.42. Franklin BSP Realty Trust has a 52 week low of $11.99 and a 52 week high of $14.66. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $13.16 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $12.93.

Franklin BSP Realty Trust Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 10th. Investors of record on Monday, September 30th will be paid a dividend of $0.355 per share. This represents a $1.42 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 10.54%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 30th. Franklin BSP Realty Trust’s payout ratio is 107.58%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Franklin BSP Realty Trust

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Fairscale Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Franklin BSP Realty Trust in the 2nd quarter valued at about $41,000. Kathleen S. Wright Associates Inc. bought a new stake in Franklin BSP Realty Trust during the 1st quarter valued at $46,000. Your Advocates Ltd. LLP purchased a new stake in shares of Franklin BSP Realty Trust in the 2nd quarter worth $76,000. SG Americas Securities LLC bought a new position in shares of Franklin BSP Realty Trust during the 1st quarter worth $136,000. Finally, Sollinda Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Franklin BSP Realty Trust during the fourth quarter valued at $176,000. Institutional investors own 59.87% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

FBRT has been the topic of several research analyst reports. BTIG Research reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $16.00 target price on shares of Franklin BSP Realty Trust in a report on Friday, July 19th. JMP Securities reiterated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $15.00 price target on shares of Franklin BSP Realty Trust in a research note on Thursday, June 27th.

About Franklin BSP Realty Trust

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).