Short Interest in KKR Real Estate Finance Trust Inc. (NYSE:KREF) Rises By 5.5%

KKR Real Estate Finance Trust Inc. (NYSE:KREF) saw a large increase in short interest in September. As of September 30th, there was short interest totalling 1,150,000 shares, an increase of 5.5% from the September 15th total of 1,090,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 544,700 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.1 days.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target 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. BTIG Research reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $11.50 price target on shares of KKR Real Estate Finance Trust in a research note on Friday, July 19th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded KKR Real Estate Finance Trust from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $11.50 to $13.00 in a report on Thursday, September 5th. Raymond James increased their price objective on KKR Real Estate Finance Trust from $13.00 to $14.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, September 19th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of KKR Real Estate Finance Trust from $13.00 to $14.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $12.50.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On KKR Real Estate Finance Trust

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. OmniStar Financial Group Inc. bought a new stake in KKR Real Estate Finance Trust in the third quarter valued at $492,000. Creative Planning boosted its stake in shares of KKR Real Estate Finance Trust by 37.0% in the 3rd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 21,524 shares of the company’s stock valued at $266,000 after purchasing an additional 5,809 shares in the last quarter. Future Financial Wealth Managment LLC acquired a new stake in shares of KKR Real Estate Finance Trust in the 3rd quarter valued at $25,000. SG Americas Securities LLC grew its holdings in shares of KKR Real Estate Finance Trust by 128.3% in the 3rd quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 34,821 shares of the company’s stock worth $430,000 after purchasing an additional 19,570 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Algert Global LLC increased its position in shares of KKR Real Estate Finance Trust by 7.2% during the 2nd quarter. Algert Global LLC now owns 88,193 shares of the company’s stock worth $798,000 after purchasing an additional 5,933 shares in the last quarter. 70.23% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

KKR Real Estate Finance Trust Trading Down 0.2 %

Shares of NYSE:KREF opened at $11.98 on Friday. KKR Real Estate Finance Trust has a 52-week low of $8.71 and a 52-week high of $14.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.86, a quick ratio of 392.62 and a current ratio of 392.62. The company has a market cap of $830.38 million, a P/E ratio of -26.10 and a beta of 0.99. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $11.87 and its 200-day moving average is $10.50.

KKR Real Estate Finance Trust (NYSE:KREF) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 22nd. The company reported ($1.57) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.30 by ($1.87). KKR Real Estate Finance Trust had a return on equity of 9.88% and a net margin of 5.88%. The business had revenue of $47.60 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $45.47 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.48 earnings per share. KKR Real Estate Finance Trust’s revenue was down 6.7% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict that KKR Real Estate Finance Trust will post 1.35 earnings per share for the current year.

KKR Real Estate Finance Trust Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 30th were paid a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 30th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 8.35%. KKR Real Estate Finance Trust’s dividend payout ratio is currently -217.39%.

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.