Blackstone Mortgage Trust (NYSE:BXMT) Raised to “Hold” at Zacks Research

Blackstone Mortgage Trust (NYSE:BXMT) was upgraded by research analysts at Zacks Research from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report issued on Monday, Zacks reports.

Several other equities analysts have also weighed in on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and set a $16.00 price objective (down from $20.00) on shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust in a research report on Friday, July 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on Blackstone Mortgage Trust from $19.00 to $18.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust from $22.00 to $18.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, August 3rd. Wall Street Zen lowered Blackstone Mortgage Trust from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, August 1st. Finally, Raymond James Financial lowered shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 6th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $19.20.

Blackstone Mortgage Trust Stock Up 2.1%

NYSE:BXMT opened at $11.24 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $1.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 124.91, a PEG ratio of 0.26 and a beta of 0.92. Blackstone Mortgage Trust has a 52-week low of $10.78 and a 52-week high of $20.67. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $13.60 and its 200 day moving average price is $16.65.

Blackstone Mortgage Trust (NYSE:BXMT) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.31 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.41 by ($0.10). Blackstone Mortgage Trust had a return on equity of 7.72% and a net margin of 1.57%.The firm had revenue of $158.06 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $157.32 million. Sell-side analysts expect that Blackstone Mortgage Trust will post 0.9 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Henry Nassau acquired 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 4th. The stock was bought at an average price of $14.34 per share, with a total value of $143,400.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 218,523 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,133,619.82. The trade was a 4.80% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In the last quarter, insiders sold 3,716 shares of company stock worth $46,815. Corporate insiders own 1.18% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Bank of America Corp DE raised its position in shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 21.9% in the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 1,297,062 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $24,839,000 after buying an additional 233,357 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new stake in shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $18,109,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 2.6% during the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 770,901 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $14,763,000 after buying an additional 19,423 shares during the last quarter. Punch & Associates Investment Management Inc. grew its position in Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 0.6% during the 1st quarter. Punch & Associates Investment Management Inc. now owns 483,624 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $9,261,000 after acquiring an additional 2,971 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dupree Financial Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 1.2% in the first quarter. Dupree Financial Group LLC now owns 310,166 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $5,940,000 after buying an additional 3,743 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 64.15% of the company’s stock.

Blackstone Mortgage Trust Company Profile

Blackstone Mortgage Trust, Inc (NYSE: BXMT) is a real estate finance company organized as a real estate investment trust. The company originates and holds senior loans secured by commercial properties, with a focus on institutional-quality assets and experienced real estate sponsors.

Its portfolio primarily consists of floating-rate mortgage loans used to finance acquisitions, refinancings, development and other capital needs for commercial real estate. The properties securing its loans may include office buildings, multifamily communities, hotels, industrial facilities, retail centers and other commercial assets.

Blackstone Mortgage Trust is externally managed by BXMT Advisors L.P., an affiliate of Blackstone.