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

Blackstone Mortgage Trust, Inc. (NYSE:BXMT) has been assigned a consensus rating of “Hold” from the eight research firms that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and two have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price target among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $20.08.

A number of brokerages recently commented on BXMT. BTIG Research reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $23.00 price objective on shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust in a research note on Friday, July 19th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reissued a “market perform” rating and set a $18.00 price objective on shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust in a research note on Tuesday, June 18th. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. Wolfe Research started coverage on Blackstone Mortgage Trust in a research note on Tuesday, June 25th. They set a “peer perform” rating on the stock. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Blackstone Mortgage Trust from $19.00 to $22.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, September 20th.

Insider Activity at Blackstone Mortgage Trust

In related news, Director Timothy Steven Johnson bought 57,050 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 2nd. The stock was bought at an average price of $17.50 per share, for a total transaction of $998,375.00. Following the purchase, the director now owns 423,251 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,406,892.50. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Blackstone Mortgage Trust news, CEO Katharine A. Keenan acquired 16,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 5th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $17.16 per share, with a total value of $274,560.00. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer now directly owns 198,960 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,414,153.60. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Timothy Steven Johnson purchased 57,050 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 2nd. The stock was acquired at an average price of $17.50 per share, with a total value of $998,375.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 423,251 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,406,892.50. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders bought 83,050 shares of company stock worth $1,448,135 and sold 1,495 shares worth $27,899. 0.93% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Blackstone Mortgage Trust

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in BXMT. Park Place Capital Corp acquired a new position in Blackstone Mortgage Trust during the second quarter worth about $26,000. Versant Capital Management Inc raised its holdings in Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 66.4% in the 2nd quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 2,183 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 871 shares during the last quarter. Cape Investment Advisory Inc. bought a new position in shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust during the fourth quarter valued at $42,000. Creekmur Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in Blackstone Mortgage Trust in the fourth quarter valued at $51,000. Finally, Wellington Shields & Co. LLC lifted its holdings in Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 98.0% during the 2nd quarter. Wellington Shields & Co. LLC now owns 4,555 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $79,000 after buying an additional 2,255 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.15% of the company’s stock.

Blackstone Mortgage Trust Stock Performance

Shares of BXMT opened at $20.03 on Friday. Blackstone Mortgage Trust has a 52-week low of $16.53 and a 52-week high of $23.29. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $18.34 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $18.36. The company has a market cap of $3.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 667.67 and a beta of 1.49.

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

Blackstone Mortgage Trust announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback plan on Wednesday, July 24th that permits the company to repurchase $150.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the real estate investment trust to purchase up to 4.3% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Blackstone Mortgage Trust Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 30th will be given a dividend of $0.47 per share. This represents a $1.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 9.39%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 30th. Blackstone Mortgage Trust’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.