Franklin BSP Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:FBRT) Receives Average Rating of “Buy” from Analysts

Franklin BSP Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:FBRT) has been given an average rating of “Buy” by the six research firms that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold recommendation, four have assigned a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price target among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $14.6667.

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Franklin BSP Realty Trust in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Jones Trading cut their target price on shares of Franklin BSP Realty Trust from $14.00 to $13.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, August 6th.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Franklin BSP Realty Trust

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of FBRT. CWM LLC raised its stake in Franklin BSP Realty Trust by 126.7% during the second quarter. CWM LLC now owns 2,428 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 1,357 shares during the period. AlphaQuest LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Franklin BSP Realty Trust in the first quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Tortoise Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Franklin BSP Realty Trust in the first quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Transce3nd LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Franklin BSP Realty Trust in the second quarter valued at approximately $46,000. Finally, State of Wyoming acquired a new stake in shares of Franklin BSP Realty Trust in the second quarter valued at approximately $47,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 59.87% of the company’s stock.

Franklin BSP Realty Trust Stock Performance

Shares of Franklin BSP Realty Trust stock opened at $10.10 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $830.57 million, a PE ratio of 12.62 and a beta of 1.03. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $11.04 and its 200-day simple moving average is $11.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.21, a quick ratio of 81.24 and a current ratio of 81.24. Franklin BSP Realty Trust has a 1 year low of $9.79 and a 1 year high of $13.58.

Franklin BSP Realty Trust Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 10th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 30th were paid a dividend of $0.355 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 30th. This represents a $1.42 annualized dividend and a yield of 14.1%. Franklin BSP Realty Trust’s dividend payout ratio is 177.50%.

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).