Franklin BSP Realty Trust (NYSE:FBRT) Cut to “Neutral” at BTIG Research

BTIG Research cut shares of Franklin BSP Realty Trust (NYSE:FBRT) from a buy rating to a neutral rating in a report published on Friday morning, Marketbeat.com reports.

Other equities analysts also recently issued reports about the company. JonesTrading reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $12.00 price objective on shares of Franklin BSP Realty Trust in a research report on Friday, September 11th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Franklin BSP Realty Trust from a “sell (d)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Zacks Research raised Franklin BSP Realty Trust from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, July 10th. Finally, Citizens Jmp reiterated a “market outperform” rating and set a $11.00 price target on shares of Franklin BSP Realty Trust in a research report on Monday, July 6th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $11.50.

Franklin BSP Realty Trust Trading Up 0.1%

Shares of NYSE:FBRT opened at $7.47 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 96.80, a current ratio of 96.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.47. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $8.02 and its 200 day moving average price is $8.44. The company has a market cap of $620.72 million, a PE ratio of 16.99 and a beta of 0.93. Franklin BSP Realty Trust has a fifty-two week low of $7.34 and a fifty-two week high of $11.36.

Franklin BSP Realty Trust (NYSE:FBRT) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The company reported $0.25 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 firm had revenue of $66.47 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $80.98 million. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Franklin BSP Realty Trust will post 0.73 earnings per share for the current 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. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 10.7%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, September 30th. Franklin BSP Realty Trust’s payout ratio is 181.82%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in FBRT. Bessemer Group Inc. raised its holdings in Franklin BSP Realty Trust by 96.3% during the first quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 5,471 shares of the company’s stock worth $46,000 after purchasing an additional 2,684 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV bought a new position in Franklin BSP Realty Trust during the 1st quarter valued at $47,000. Ipsen Advisor Group LLC bought a new position in Franklin BSP Realty Trust during the 1st quarter valued at $88,000. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Franklin BSP Realty Trust by 15.5% during the 1st quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 11,054 shares of the company’s stock valued at $94,000 after purchasing an additional 1,480 shares during the period. Finally, Engineers Gate Manager LP acquired a new position in shares of Franklin BSP Realty Trust during the 2nd quarter valued at $103,000. 59.87% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Franklin BSP Realty Trust Company Profile

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.