Franklin BSP Realty Trust (NYSE:FBRT) Upgraded to “Strong-Buy” at B. Riley

B. Riley upgraded shares of Franklin BSP Realty Trust (NYSE:FBRT) to a strong-buy rating in a report published on Tuesday morning,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other equities analysts also recently issued reports on FBRT. Janney Montgomery Scott began coverage on shares of Franklin BSP Realty Trust in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. They set a “buy” rating and a $16.00 price objective on the stock. Raymond James increased their target price on Franklin BSP Realty Trust from $15.00 to $15.50 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $15.50.

Franklin BSP Realty Trust Stock Down 0.9 %

NYSE:FBRT opened at $12.33 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.67, a current ratio of 90.45 and a quick ratio of 90.45. Franklin BSP Realty Trust has a 1-year low of $11.99 and a 1-year high of $14.11. The company has a 50-day moving average of $12.87 and a 200 day moving average of $12.99. The firm has a market cap of $1.01 billion, a PE ratio of 15.04 and a beta of 1.39.

Franklin BSP Realty Trust Announces Dividend

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in FBRT. FMR LLC raised its stake in Franklin BSP Realty Trust by 42.9% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,623 shares of the company’s stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 787 shares during the last quarter. Fairscale Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Franklin BSP Realty Trust during the second quarter valued at about $41,000. KBC Group NV raised its position in shares of Franklin BSP Realty Trust by 51.6% in the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 4,664 shares of the company’s stock valued at $61,000 after purchasing an additional 1,588 shares during the last quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Franklin BSP Realty Trust in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $168,000. Finally, Hodges Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Franklin BSP Realty Trust during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $189,000. 59.87% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Franklin BSP Realty Trust Company Profile

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).