Blackstone Mortgage Trust (NYSE:BXMT) Hits New 12-Month Low – Should You Sell?

Blackstone Mortgage Trust, Inc. (NYSE:BXMT)’s stock price hit a new 52-week low during trading on Thursday . The stock traded as low as $16.87 and last traded at $16.9250, with a volume of 484053 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $17.03.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have issued reports on BXMT shares. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on Blackstone Mortgage Trust from $21.00 to $20.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. UBS Group began coverage on Blackstone Mortgage Trust in a research note on Tuesday, June 2nd. They set a “buy” rating and a $21.00 price target for the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price objective on Blackstone Mortgage Trust from $20.50 to $20.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, June 26th. Finally, Weiss Ratings downgraded Blackstone Mortgage Trust from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research report on Monday, June 29th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $21.00.

Blackstone Mortgage Trust Trading Down 0.4%

The company has a market capitalization of $2.86 billion, a PE ratio of 27.80 and a beta of 0.90. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $18.13 and its 200-day simple moving average is $18.94.

Blackstone Mortgage Trust Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 30th will be issued a dividend of $0.47 per share. This represents a $1.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 11.1%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, June 30th. Blackstone Mortgage Trust’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 308.20%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Blackstone Mortgage Trust news, President Fernando Austin Pena sold 2,398 shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $17.48, for a total transaction of $41,917.04. Following the completion of the sale, the president directly owned 74,569 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,303,466.12. The trade was a 3.12% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. In the last quarter, insiders sold 5,420 shares of company stock worth $95,233. Company insiders own 1.18% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Blackstone Mortgage Trust

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC bought a new position in Blackstone Mortgage Trust during the 1st quarter worth about $286,000. Bank of America Corp DE raised its holdings in shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 21.9% in the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 1,297,062 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $24,839,000 after purchasing an additional 233,357 shares in the last quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. lifted its position in shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 75.7% in the 1st quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. now owns 238,916 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $4,575,000 after purchasing an additional 102,904 shares during the period. Arkadios Wealth Advisors lifted its position in shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 14.1% in the 1st quarter. Arkadios Wealth Advisors now owns 14,874 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $285,000 after purchasing an additional 1,833 shares during the period. Finally, Amundi boosted its stake in shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 30.1% during the first quarter. Amundi now owns 33,705 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $645,000 after purchasing an additional 7,804 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 64.15% of the company’s stock.

Blackstone Mortgage Trust Company Profile

Blackstone Mortgage Trust, Inc (NYSE: BXMT) is a publicly traded real estate finance company that originates, acquires and manages commercial mortgage loans and other CRE debt investments. As an externally managed real estate investment trust (REIT), it seeks to generate attractive risk-adjusted returns through the deployment of senior floating-rate and fixed-rate loans backed by income-producing properties.

The firm’s core business activities span the origination of senior mortgage loans, the acquisition of loan portfolios and other real estate debt instruments, and the active management of those investments.