Blackstone Mortgage Trust, Inc. (NYSE:BXMT) Receives Average Rating of “Hold” from Brokerages

Blackstone Mortgage Trust, Inc. (NYSE:BXMT) has earned a consensus rating of “Hold” from the nine ratings firms that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, three have given a hold recommendation and four have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year target price among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $19.20.

BXMT has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. 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 target price for the company. Zacks Research lowered Blackstone Mortgage Trust from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 11th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods restated a “market perform” rating and set a $16.00 target price (down from $20.00) on shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust in a report on Friday, July 31st. Citigroup reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “sell (d)” rating in a research note on Friday, July 31st.

Blackstone Mortgage Trust Price Performance

BXMT stock opened at $13.73 on Friday. Blackstone Mortgage Trust has a 1 year low of $13.61 and a 1 year high of $20.67. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $15.84 and a 200 day moving average of $17.87. The company has a market cap of $2.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 152.56, a PEG ratio of 0.32 and a beta of 0.91.

Blackstone Mortgage Trust (NYSE:BXMT) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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). Blackstone Mortgage Trust had a net margin of 1.57% and a return on equity of 7.72%. The firm had revenue of $158.06 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $157.32 million. On average, equities research analysts expect that Blackstone Mortgage Trust will post 0.9 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Mortgage Trust Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 30th were paid a dividend of $0.47 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, June 30th. This represents a $1.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 13.7%. Blackstone Mortgage Trust’s payout ratio is presently 2,088.89%.

Insider Transactions at Blackstone Mortgage Trust

In related news, Director Henry N. Nassau purchased 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 4th. The shares were purchased at an average cost 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 $3,133,619.82. This trade represents a 4.80% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, President Fernando Austin Pena sold 1,670 shares of the business’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 value of $28,506.90. Following the completion of the sale, the president directly owned 72,899 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,244,385.93. This represents a 2.24% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 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 90 days, insiders sold 5,420 shares of company stock worth $95,233. Corporate insiders own 1.18% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Northside Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust in the second quarter worth $28,000. Jones Financial Companies Lllp raised its position in shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 45.5% in the 1st quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 1,715 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 536 shares during the last quarter. Ascentis Independent Advisors purchased a new position in shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust in the 1st quarter worth about $41,000. UMB Bank n.a. boosted its stake in Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 151.1% in the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 2,172 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 1,307 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Advisory Services Network LLC bought a new position in Blackstone Mortgage Trust in the 3rd quarter worth about $46,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 64.15% of the company’s stock.

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.