Franklin BSP Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:FBRT) Given Consensus Rating of “Hold” by Analysts

Shares of Franklin BSP Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:FBRT) have been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the six ratings firms that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, two have assigned a hold recommendation and three have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year target price among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $11.50.

Several research analysts have recently commented on FBRT shares. Citizens Jmp reiterated a “market outperform” rating and set a $11.00 price target on shares of Franklin BSP Realty Trust in a report on Monday, July 6th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Franklin BSP Realty Trust from a “sell (d)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Franklin BSP Realty Trust from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, July 10th. JonesTrading reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $12.00 price objective on shares of Franklin BSP Realty Trust in a research report on Friday, September 11th. Finally, BTIG Research cut Franklin BSP Realty Trust from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday.

Franklin BSP Realty Trust Trading Down 1.6%

FBRT stock opened at $7.47 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 96.80, a quick ratio of 96.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.47. Franklin BSP Realty Trust has a 12-month low of $7.34 and a 12-month high of $11.36. The stock has a market cap of $620.72 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.99 and a beta of 0.93. The business’s 50-day moving average is $8.02 and its 200 day moving average is $8.45.

Franklin BSP Realty Trust (NYSE:FBRT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 29th. The company reported $0.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.24 by $0.01. Franklin BSP Realty Trust had a net margin of 20.49% and a return on equity of 5.82%. The company had revenue of $66.47 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $80.98 million. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Franklin BSP Realty Trust will post 0.73 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Franklin BSP Realty Trust Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 13th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, September 30th will be given a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, September 30th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 10.7%. Franklin BSP Realty Trust’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 181.82%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in FBRT. Independent Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Franklin BSP Realty Trust in the 1st quarter valued at about $1,117,000. Q Global Advisors LLC grew its position in Franklin BSP Realty Trust by 32.1% in the 1st quarter. Q Global Advisors LLC now owns 398,078 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,380,000 after buying an additional 96,723 shares during the last quarter. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL lifted its position in Franklin BSP Realty Trust by 64.3% in the first quarter. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL now owns 188,917 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,604,000 after purchasing an additional 73,955 shares during the period. Squarepoint Ops LLC acquired a new stake in Franklin BSP Realty Trust in the second quarter valued at $564,000. Finally, Gabelli Funds LLC lifted its position in shares of Franklin BSP Realty Trust by 12.9% during the 1st quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC now owns 556,252 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,723,000 after acquiring an additional 63,752 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 59.87% of the company’s stock.

About Franklin BSP Realty Trust

Franklin BSP Realty Trust (NYSE: FBRT) is a real estate investment trust focused on commercial real estate finance. The company originates, acquires and manages a portfolio of commercial real estate debt investments, with an emphasis on floating-rate mortgage loans secured by institutional-quality properties.

Its investment activities may include senior mortgage loans, subordinate and mezzanine loans, bridge loans, preferred equity investments and other commercial real estate-related credit investments.