Franklin BSP Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:FBRT) Announces $0.36 Quarterly Dividend

Franklin BSP Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:FBRT) declared a quarterly dividend on Monday, March 17th, RTT News reports. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st will be given a dividend of 0.355 per share on Thursday, April 10th. This represents a $1.42 annualized dividend and a yield of 10.94%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st.

Franklin BSP Realty Trust has increased its dividend payment by an average of 72.4% per year over the last three years. Franklin BSP Realty Trust has a payout ratio of 92.2% indicating that its dividend is currently covered by earnings, but may not be in the future if the company’s earnings decline. Equities analysts expect Franklin BSP Realty Trust to earn $1.49 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.42 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 95.3%.

Franklin BSP Realty Trust Price Performance

Shares of FBRT opened at $12.98 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 84.89, a quick ratio of 90.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.42. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $13.02 and its two-hundred day moving average is $12.96. Franklin BSP Realty Trust has a twelve month low of $11.96 and a twelve month high of $14.12. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.07 billion, a PE ratio of 15.64 and a beta of 1.37.

Franklin BSP Realty Trust (NYSE:FBRT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The company reported $0.28 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.27 by $0.01. Franklin BSP Realty Trust had a return on equity of 8.17% and a net margin of 45.56%. The firm had revenue of $55.95 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $49.28 million. Research analysts anticipate that Franklin BSP Realty Trust will post 1.41 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Jones Trading restated a “buy” rating and set a $15.00 target price on shares of Franklin BSP Realty Trust in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. Citigroup reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Franklin BSP Realty Trust in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. Janney Montgomery Scott assumed coverage on Franklin BSP Realty Trust in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $16.00 price objective for the company. Finally, B. Riley upgraded Franklin BSP Realty Trust to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $15.50.

About Franklin BSP Realty Trust

Benefit Street Partners operates as a self-managed real estate investment trust (REIT). BSP earns income from investing in a leveraged portfolio of residential mortgage pass-through securities consisting almost exclusively of adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) securities issued and guaranteed by government-sponsored enterprises, either Federal National Mortgage Association (Fannie Mae) or Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation (Freddie Mac) (together, the government-sponsored enterprises (GSEs)), or by an agency of the federal government, Government National Mortgage Association (Ginnie Mae).