Azora Capital LP Acquires Shares of 1,632,979 KKR Real Estate Finance Trust Inc. (NYSE:KREF)

Azora Capital LP bought a new position in shares of KKR Real Estate Finance Trust Inc. (NYSE:KREF) in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 1,632,979 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,167,000. KKR Real Estate Finance Trust comprises approximately 1.1% of Azora Capital LP’s holdings, making the stock its 26th biggest holding.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. GFS Advisors LLC raised its holdings in KKR Real Estate Finance Trust by 9,591.3% in the 3rd quarter. GFS Advisors LLC now owns 290,740 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,591,000 after acquiring an additional 287,740 shares during the period. TrueMark Investments LLC bought a new position in shares of KKR Real Estate Finance Trust during the second quarter worth approximately $1,305,000. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its holdings in KKR Real Estate Finance Trust by 27.6% during the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 455,291 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,372,000 after purchasing an additional 98,400 shares during the last quarter. Quest Partners LLC acquired a new stake in KKR Real Estate Finance Trust during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $1,201,000. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its holdings in KKR Real Estate Finance Trust by 144.9% in the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 145,896 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,802,000 after buying an additional 86,327 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 70.23% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have weighed in on KREF. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded KKR Real Estate Finance Trust from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $11.50 to $13.00 in a research report on Thursday, September 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of KKR Real Estate Finance Trust from $11.50 to $12.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of KKR Real Estate Finance Trust from $13.00 to $14.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Raymond James lowered their target price on shares of KKR Real Estate Finance Trust from $14.00 to $13.50 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, JMP Securities increased their price target on KKR Real Estate Finance Trust from $12.50 to $13.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $12.83.

KKR Real Estate Finance Trust Price Performance

KREF stock opened at $11.63 on Monday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $11.82 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $10.94. The firm has a market cap of $809.10 million, a P/E ratio of -38.77 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a quick ratio of 277.63, a current ratio of 277.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.75. KKR Real Estate Finance Trust Inc. has a 12 month low of $8.71 and a 12 month high of $14.12.

KKR Real Estate Finance Trust (NYSE:KREF) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, October 21st. The company reported $0.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.34 by $0.03. KKR Real Estate Finance Trust had a net margin of 0.40% and a return on equity of 9.46%. The business had revenue of $140.15 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $39.52 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.47 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that KKR Real Estate Finance Trust Inc. will post 1.4 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

KKR Real Estate Finance Trust Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 30th were issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 30th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 8.60%. KKR Real Estate Finance Trust’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently -333.32%.

About KKR Real Estate Finance Trust

KKR Real Estate Finance Trust Inc, a mortgage real estate investment trust, focuses primarily on originating and acquiring transitional senior loans secured by commercial real estate (CRE) assets. It engages in the origination and purchase of credit investments related to CRE, including leveraged and unleveraged commercial real estate loans.