Franklin BSP Realty Trust’s (FBRT) Buy Rating Reiterated at Jones Trading

Jones Trading reiterated their buy rating on shares of Franklin BSP Realty Trust (NYSE:FBRT) in a research report released on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $15.00 price target on the stock.

Other analysts have also issued research reports about the stock. B. Riley upgraded shares of Franklin BSP Realty Trust to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Janney Montgomery Scott started coverage on shares of Franklin BSP Realty Trust in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. They set a “buy” rating and a $16.00 price target for the company. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $15.50.

Franklin BSP Realty Trust Stock Performance

NYSE:FBRT opened at $13.12 on Tuesday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $12.86 and a 200-day moving average of $12.97. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.80 and a beta of 1.37. The company has a quick ratio of 90.45, a current ratio of 84.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.42. Franklin BSP Realty Trust has a twelve month low of $11.96 and a twelve month high of $14.12.

Franklin BSP Realty Trust (NYSE:FBRT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The company reported $0.28 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.27 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $55.95 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $49.28 million. Franklin BSP Realty Trust had a net margin of 45.56% and a return on equity of 8.17%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Franklin BSP Realty Trust will post 1.41 EPS for the current year.

Franklin BSP Realty Trust Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 10.83%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 31st. Franklin BSP Realty Trust’s dividend payout ratio is 171.08%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Franklin BSP Realty Trust

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of FBRT. Quarry LP purchased a new position in Franklin BSP Realty Trust during the 4th quarter worth $32,000. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Franklin BSP Realty Trust by 42.9% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,623 shares of the company’s stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 787 shares during the last quarter. Costello Asset Management INC purchased a new position in shares of Franklin BSP Realty Trust in the 4th quarter worth about $58,000. KBC Group NV boosted its holdings in shares of Franklin BSP Realty Trust by 51.6% in the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 4,664 shares of the company’s stock worth $61,000 after buying an additional 1,588 shares during the last quarter. Finally, LaSalle St. Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Franklin BSP Realty Trust in the 4th quarter worth about $133,000. 59.87% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other 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).