Franklin BSP Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:FBRT) Given Consensus Rating of “Buy” by Brokerages

Franklin BSP Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:FBRT) has been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Buy” from the six research firms that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Four analysts have rated the stock with a buy recommendation and two have given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price target among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $15.50.

Several brokerages have weighed in on FBRT. B. Riley raised Franklin BSP Realty Trust to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Janney Montgomery Scott began coverage on shares of Franklin BSP Realty Trust in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. They set a “buy” rating and a $16.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Raymond James upped their price objective on shares of Franklin BSP Realty Trust from $15.00 to $15.50 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 19th.

Franklin BSP Realty Trust Stock Down 0.9 %

NYSE FBRT opened at $12.33 on Friday. Franklin BSP Realty Trust has a one year low of $11.99 and a one year high of $14.11. The company has a market capitalization of $1.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.04 and a beta of 1.39. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $12.87 and a 200-day moving average price of $12.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.67, a quick ratio of 90.45 and a current ratio of 90.45.

Franklin BSP Realty Trust Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 10th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be issued a $0.355 dividend. This represents a $1.42 annualized dividend and a yield of 11.52%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 31st. Franklin BSP Realty Trust’s dividend payout ratio is currently 173.17%.

Institutional Trading of Franklin BSP Realty Trust

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. 1832 Asset Management L.P. raised its stake in Franklin BSP Realty Trust by 55.6% in the second quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 700,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,820,000 after buying an additional 250,000 shares during the last quarter. Strong Tower Advisory Services boosted its stake in Franklin BSP Realty Trust by 28.7% in the 3rd quarter. Strong Tower Advisory Services now owns 1,055,160 shares of the company’s stock worth $13,780,000 after purchasing an additional 235,548 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in Franklin BSP Realty Trust by 13.0% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,026,290 shares of the company’s stock worth $13,403,000 after purchasing an additional 117,745 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its stake in Franklin BSP Realty Trust by 3.6% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,359,241 shares of the company’s stock valued at $45,059,000 after purchasing an additional 116,589 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its holdings in shares of Franklin BSP Realty Trust by 62.3% in the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 124,148 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,621,000 after buying an additional 47,650 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 59.87% of the company’s stock.

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).