Blackstone Mortgage Trust, Inc. (NYSE:BXMT) Given Consensus Rating of “Hold” by Analysts

Blackstone Mortgage Trust, Inc. (NYSE:BXMT) has received an average recommendation of “Hold” from the eight ratings firms that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating on the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $19.58.

BXMT has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. BTIG Research reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $23.00 price objective on shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust in a research note on Friday, July 19th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on Blackstone Mortgage Trust from $20.00 to $19.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. JMP Securities reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and issued a $18.00 price objective on shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust in a research note on Tuesday, June 18th. Finally, Wolfe Research began coverage on Blackstone Mortgage Trust in a research note on Tuesday, June 25th. They issued a “peer perform” rating on the stock.

Insider Activity at Blackstone Mortgage Trust

In other Blackstone Mortgage Trust news, Director Timothy Steven Johnson purchased 57,050 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, August 2nd. The shares were purchased at an average price of $17.50 per share, with a total value of $998,375.00. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 423,251 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,406,892.50. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, Director Timothy Steven Johnson acquired 57,050 shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 2nd. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $17.50 per share, for a total transaction of $998,375.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 423,251 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,406,892.50. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Katharine A. Keenan sold 4,508 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $17.53, for a total value of $79,025.24. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 182,960 shares in the company, valued at $3,207,288.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have purchased 83,050 shares of company stock worth $1,448,135 and have sold 8,295 shares worth $144,087. 0.93% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in BXMT. Park Place Capital Corp purchased a new position in Blackstone Mortgage Trust during the second quarter valued at $26,000. Versant Capital Management Inc grew its holdings in shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 66.4% in the second quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 2,183 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $38,000 after acquiring an additional 871 shares during the period. Cape Investment Advisory Inc. bought a new stake in Blackstone Mortgage Trust during the fourth quarter valued at about $42,000. GAMMA Investing LLC bought a new stake in Blackstone Mortgage Trust during the fourth quarter valued at about $45,000. Finally, Creekmur Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in Blackstone Mortgage Trust during the fourth quarter valued at about $51,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 64.15% of the company’s stock.

Blackstone Mortgage Trust Stock Up 0.8 %

Blackstone Mortgage Trust stock opened at $18.47 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 615.67 and a beta of 1.49. Blackstone Mortgage Trust has a 12-month low of $16.53 and a 12-month high of $23.67. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $18.00 and a 200 day simple moving average of $18.46.

Blackstone Mortgage Trust (NYSE:BXMT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 24th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.51 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.47 by $0.04. Blackstone Mortgage Trust had a positive return on equity of 10.16% and a negative net margin of 7.98%. The business had revenue of $466.15 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $131.87 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.75 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Blackstone Mortgage Trust will post 1.94 EPS for the current year.

Blackstone Mortgage Trust Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 30th will be paid a $0.47 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 30th. This represents a $1.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 10.18%. Blackstone Mortgage Trust’s payout ratio is presently 6,266.67%.

Blackstone Mortgage Trust Company Profile

Blackstone Mortgage Trust, Inc, a real estate finance company, originates senior loans collateralized by commercial properties in North America, Europe, and Australia. The company originates and acquires senior floating rate mortgage loans that are secured by a first-priority mortgage on commercial real estate assets.