KKR Real Estate Finance Trust Inc. (NYSE:KREF) Receives $12.33 Average Target Price from Analysts

KKR Real Estate Finance Trust Inc. (NYSE:KREF) has been given an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the six ratings firms that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and four have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month target price among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $11.96.

KREF has been the subject of a number of research reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price objective on KKR Real Estate Finance Trust from $10.00 to $9.75 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday. JMP Securities decreased their target price on shares of KKR Real Estate Finance Trust from $14.50 to $13.00 and set a “market outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on shares of KKR Real Estate Finance Trust from $11.50 to $10.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on KKR Real Estate Finance Trust from $12.00 to $10.50 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 8th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Matthew A. Salem acquired 26,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 8th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $9.72 per share, with a total value of $252,720.00. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer now owns 460,309 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,474,203.48. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, CEO Matthew A. Salem bought 26,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 8th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $9.72 per share, with a total value of $252,720.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 460,309 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,474,203.48. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, COO W Patrick Mattson purchased 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 8th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $9.72 per share, for a total transaction of $97,200.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 308,446 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,998,095.12. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders own 1.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On KKR Real Estate Finance Trust

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of KREF. Swiss National Bank boosted its stake in KKR Real Estate Finance Trust by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 129,100 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,532,000 after purchasing an additional 1,300 shares during the period. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of KKR Real Estate Finance Trust by 3.4% in the third quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 40,871 shares of the company’s stock worth $485,000 after acquiring an additional 1,340 shares during the last quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund raised its stake in KKR Real Estate Finance Trust by 4.6% during the 4th quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund now owns 35,542 shares of the company’s stock valued at $470,000 after purchasing an additional 1,571 shares during the last quarter. Samalin Investment Counsel LLC boosted its holdings in KKR Real Estate Finance Trust by 15.6% in the 3rd quarter. Samalin Investment Counsel LLC now owns 14,598 shares of the company’s stock valued at $173,000 after purchasing an additional 1,970 shares during the period. Finally, Autumn Glory Partners LLC grew its position in KKR Real Estate Finance Trust by 30.0% in the 4th quarter. Autumn Glory Partners LLC now owns 13,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $172,000 after purchasing an additional 3,000 shares during the last quarter. 70.23% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

KKR Real Estate Finance Trust Stock Down 0.2 %

Shares of NYSE:KREF opened at $9.61 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $9.80 and a 200 day simple moving average of $11.26. KKR Real Estate Finance Trust has a 52 week low of $9.09 and a 52 week high of $14.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.20, a quick ratio of 364.56 and a current ratio of 364.56. The company has a market cap of $665.76 million, a PE ratio of -20.88 and a beta of 0.96.

KKR Real Estate Finance Trust (NYSE:KREF) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The company reported $0.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.37 by $0.02. KKR Real Estate Finance Trust had a positive return on equity of 10.38% and a negative net margin of 1.39%. The company had revenue of $151.62 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $43.16 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.48 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that KKR Real Estate Finance Trust will post 1.33 earnings per share for the current year.

KKR Real Estate Finance Trust Cuts Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, March 28th were issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 27th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 10.41%. KKR Real Estate Finance Trust’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently -217.39%.

KKR Real Estate Finance Trust Company Profile

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.