Blackstone Mortgage Trust (NYSE:BXMT) Cut to “Sell” at Wall Street Zen

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

Several other analysts also recently commented on BXMT. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research report on Monday, June 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust from $19.00 to $18.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday. UBS Group initiated coverage on shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust in a report on Tuesday, June 2nd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $21.00 target price for the company. Zacks Research lowered Blackstone Mortgage Trust from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 22nd. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods restated a “market perform” rating and issued a $16.00 price objective (down from $20.00) on shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust in a research report on Friday. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Blackstone Mortgage Trust presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $19.20.

Blackstone Mortgage Trust Trading Up 0.2%

Blackstone Mortgage Trust stock opened at $14.57 on Friday. Blackstone Mortgage Trust has a 12-month low of $14.11 and a 12-month high of $20.67. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 161.94 and a beta of 0.90. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $17.37 and a 200 day moving average of $18.56.

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

Blackstone Mortgage Trust Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Activity

In other news, President Fernando Austin Pena sold 1,670 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $17.07, for a total value of $28,506.90. Following the transaction, the president owned 72,899 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,244,385.93. The trade was a 2.24% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through 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. Insiders have sold a total of 5,420 shares of company stock worth $95,233 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 1.18% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Blackstone Mortgage Trust

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of BXMT. Edgestream Partners L.P. lifted its stake in Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 75.7% in the 1st quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. now owns 238,916 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $4,575,000 after purchasing an additional 102,904 shares in the last quarter. Shikiar Asset Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 96.4% during the first quarter. Shikiar Asset Management Inc. now owns 174,700 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $3,346,000 after purchasing an additional 85,750 shares in the last quarter. Independent Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust during the first quarter valued at about $4,845,000. Apollon Wealth Management LLC grew its position in shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 103.3% during the fourth quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC now owns 86,573 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,656,000 after purchasing an additional 43,996 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Louisiana State Employees Retirement System bought a new stake in shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust in the first quarter worth about $1,346,000. 64.15% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Blackstone Mortgage Trust Company Profile

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.