Blackstone Mortgage Trust (NYSE:BXMT) Lowered to “Sell” Rating by Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen cut shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust (NYSE:BXMT) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research note published on Saturday.

Several other brokerages have also recently weighed in on BXMT. UBS Group assumed coverage on Blackstone Mortgage Trust in a research note on Tuesday, June 2nd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $21.00 price target on the stock. Weiss Ratings lowered Blackstone Mortgage Trust from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research report on Monday, June 29th. Zacks Research cut shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and issued a $16.00 target price (down from $20.00) on shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust in a research report on Friday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust from $19.00 to $18.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Blackstone Mortgage Trust currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $19.50.

Blackstone Mortgage Trust Stock Performance

BXMT stock opened at $14.53 on Friday. Blackstone Mortgage Trust has a fifty-two week low of $14.11 and a fifty-two week high of $20.67. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $17.44 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $18.59. The company has a market capitalization of $2.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 161.49 and a beta of 0.90.

Blackstone Mortgage Trust (NYSE:BXMT) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.41 by ($0.10). The firm had revenue of $158.06 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $157.32 million. Blackstone Mortgage Trust had a return on equity of 7.72% and a net margin of 1.57%. Sell-side analysts forecast that Blackstone Mortgage Trust will post 1.21 earnings per share for the current year.

Blackstone Mortgage Trust Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 30th were given a $0.47 dividend. This represents a $1.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 12.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, June 30th. Blackstone Mortgage Trust’s payout ratio is currently 2,088.89%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Blackstone Mortgage Trust

In related news, President Fernando Austin Pena sold 1,670 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $17.07, for a total transaction of $28,506.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the president owned 72,899 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,244,385.93. This trade represents a 2.24% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. In the last quarter, insiders sold 5,420 shares of company stock valued at $95,233. Corporate insiders own 1.18% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Blackstone Mortgage Trust

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Jones Financial Companies Lllp grew its stake in shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 45.5% in the first quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 1,715 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 536 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC raised its position in shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 7.1% in the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 570,233 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $11,405,000 after purchasing an additional 37,838 shares during the last quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC raised its position in shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 5.0% in the 1st quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 73,679 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,474,000 after purchasing an additional 3,478 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its position in shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 28.1% in the 2nd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 630,752 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $12,142,000 after purchasing an additional 138,469 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jump Financial LLC bought a new position in Blackstone Mortgage Trust in the 2nd quarter worth about $226,000. 64.15% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

More Blackstone Mortgage Trust News

Here are the key news stories impacting Blackstone Mortgage Trust this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Loan growth and portfolio performance were described as encouraging, while management is targeting a reduction of more than 40% in office and pre-2023 loan exposure by year-end. BXMT also plans to expand into the approximately $200 billion homebuilder-finance market, which could improve portfolio diversification over time. Blackstone Mortgage Trust exposure reduction and homebuilder finance article
• Positive Sentiment: JPMorgan lowered its price target to $18 from $19 but maintained an “overweight” rating, implying meaningful upside from current levels. The target cut appears to reflect a more cautious valuation rather than a negative fundamental view. Benzinga analyst rating report
• Neutral Sentiment: Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reaffirmed its “market perform” rating but reduced its price target sharply to $16 from $20. The new target still indicates potential upside, but the reduction signals less confidence in near-term appreciation. Finviz analyst rating report
• Negative Sentiment: Second-quarter earnings were mixed. BXMT reported revenue of $158.1 million, slightly above the $157.3 million consensus, but EPS was reported at $0.31 versus expectations of $0.38. Another earnings measure cited by Zacks showed $0.48 per share, highlighting differences between reporting metrics; nevertheless, realized gains and losses weighed on the quarter’s headline results. Blackstone Mortgage Trust earnings impact article
• Negative Sentiment: The earnings shortfall prompted a broader reassessment of BXMT, with commentary characterizing the quarter as a reason for a downgrade despite strong loan growth and performance. Continued office-market exposure and realized losses remain key investor concerns. Blackstone Mortgage Trust downgrade analysis

About Blackstone Mortgage Trust

Blackstone Mortgage Trust, Inc (NYSE: BXMT) is a publicly traded real estate finance company that originates, acquires and manages commercial mortgage loans and other CRE debt investments. As an externally managed real estate investment trust (REIT), it seeks to generate attractive risk-adjusted returns through the deployment of senior floating-rate and fixed-rate loans backed by income-producing properties.

The firm’s core business activities span the origination of senior mortgage loans, the acquisition of loan portfolios and other real estate debt instruments, and the active management of those investments.