Blackstone Mortgage Trust (NYSE:BXMT) Posts Earnings Results, Misses Expectations By $2.29 EPS

Blackstone Mortgage Trust (NYSE:BXMT) posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday. The real estate investment trust reported ($2.07) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.22 by ($2.29), FiscalAI reports. The firm had revenue of $159.32 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $108.24 million. Blackstone Mortgage Trust had a net margin of 7.53% and a return on equity of 4.06%.

Here are the key takeaways from Blackstone Mortgage Trust’s conference call:

• The loan portfolio is now 99% performing; management resolved roughly $575 million of impaired loans in Q4, reduced impaired balances to under $90 million, and distributable earnings prior to charge-offs covered the quarterly dividend for the second consecutive quarter.
• BXMT strengthened its funding profile by executing over $5 billion of corporate and securitized debt transactions (including $2.8 billion of term loan repricings), which lowered weighted-average borrowing spreads by ~90 bps, issued a $1 billion CLO, finished the year with $1 billion of liquidity and no maturities until 2027, and repurchased about $140 million of stock since July 2024.
• Management is diversifying the portfolio into multifamily, industrial, net lease, and discounted bank-loan portfolios; the portfolio is roughly 50% multifamily/industrial, net lease and acquired bank loans now represent ~5% of the portfolio, and repayments from discounted bank-loan purchases have already contributed to returns.
• Results included significant reserve activity—GAAP net income was $0.24 per share but distributable earnings were -$2.07 per share after $434 million of reserve charge-offs (CECL reserves fell ~60% QoQ)—and BXMT still holds $1.3 billion of owned real estate (carried at ~50% discounts) and hotels/REO that could weigh on near-term returns until dispositions occur.

Blackstone Mortgage Trust Stock Up 1.4%

Shares of BXMT stock traded up $0.28 on Wednesday, hitting $19.89. The company had a trading volume of 619,647 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,448,519. The firm has a market cap of $3.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.09 and a beta of 1.07. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $19.63 and a 200-day moving average price of $19.13. Blackstone Mortgage Trust has a twelve month low of $16.51 and a twelve month high of $21.24.

Blackstone Mortgage Trust Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, December 31st were paid a dividend of $0.47 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, December 31st. This represents a $1.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 9.5%. Blackstone Mortgage Trust’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 303.23%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, President Fernando Austin Pena sold 3,131 shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $19.24, for a total transaction of $60,240.44. Following the completion of the transaction, the president directly owned 78,633 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,512,898.92. This trade represents a 3.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders sold 5,049 shares of company stock worth $98,716 over the last quarter. 1.02% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Blackstone Mortgage Trust

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in BXMT. Jones Financial Companies Lllp boosted its holdings in Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 45.5% during the first quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 1,715 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 536 shares in the last quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System boosted its stake in shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 249,450 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $4,592,000 after acquiring an additional 976 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. grew its position in shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 1.9% during the 3rd quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. now owns 76,720 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,412,000 after acquiring an additional 1,430 shares during the period. Sei Investments Co. increased its stake in shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 2.9% in the 3rd quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 60,031 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,105,000 after purchasing an additional 1,702 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mackenzie Financial Corp increased its stake in shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 4.3% in the 3rd quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 42,442 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $781,000 after purchasing an additional 1,734 shares in the last quarter. 64.15% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BXMT has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Blackstone Mortgage Trust from $19.00 to $20.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 4th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $20.00 to $21.00 in a research report on Monday, November 17th. BTIG Research reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $23.00 price target on shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust in a report on Monday, December 29th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $21.00.

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.