Blackstone Mortgage Trust, Inc. (NYSE:BXMT) Declares $0.47 Quarterly Dividend

Blackstone Mortgage Trust, Inc. (NYSE:BXMT) declared a quarterly dividend on Friday, March 14th, RTT News reports. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be paid a dividend of 0.47 per share by the real estate investment trust on Tuesday, April 15th. This represents a $1.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 9.12%.

Blackstone Mortgage Trust has decreased its dividend payment by an average of 0.2% per year over the last three years. Blackstone Mortgage Trust has a payout ratio of 91.7% indicating that its dividend is currently covered by earnings, but may not be in the future if the company’s earnings tumble.

Blackstone Mortgage Trust Trading Up 2.6 %

Shares of BXMT traded up $0.52 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $20.61. 1,193,307 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,747,716. The firm has a market cap of $3.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -17.61 and a beta of 1.52. Blackstone Mortgage Trust has a 12-month low of $16.53 and a 12-month high of $21.09. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $19.04 and its 200 day moving average price is $18.75.

Blackstone Mortgage Trust (NYSE:BXMT) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.39 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.87) by $1.26. Blackstone Mortgage Trust had a negative net margin of 11.54% and a positive return on equity of 8.62%. On average, research analysts forecast that Blackstone Mortgage Trust will post 1.65 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

BXMT has been the subject of several recent research reports. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Blackstone Mortgage Trust from $18.50 to $19.50 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust from $17.50 to $20.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $20.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their price objective on shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust from $18.50 to $19.50 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 13th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Blackstone Mortgage Trust presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $20.67.

Insider Buying and Selling at Blackstone Mortgage Trust

In other Blackstone Mortgage Trust news, CEO Katharine A. Keenan sold 2,323 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.70, for a total value of $48,086.10. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 248,487 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,143,680.90. This trade represents a 0.93 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders sold a total of 3,345 shares of company stock worth $68,265 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.93% of the company’s stock.

About Blackstone Mortgage Trust

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.