Franklin BSP Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:FBRT) Receives Average Recommendation of “Buy” from Analysts

Shares of Franklin BSP Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:FBRT) have earned an average recommendation of “Buy” from the seven ratings firms that are covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. Five investment 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 brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $15.50.

Several equities analysts recently commented on the stock. Jones Trading reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $15.00 target price on shares of Franklin BSP Realty Trust in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Citigroup reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Franklin BSP Realty Trust in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. Janney Montgomery Scott assumed coverage on Franklin BSP Realty Trust in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $16.00 target price for the company. Finally, B. Riley upgraded Franklin BSP Realty Trust to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Franklin BSP Realty Trust

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Quarry LP bought a new stake in Franklin BSP Realty Trust in the fourth quarter valued at $32,000. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division purchased a new stake in shares of Franklin BSP Realty Trust in the 1st quarter worth about $32,000. FMR LLC lifted its position in shares of Franklin BSP Realty Trust by 42.9% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,623 shares of the company’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 787 shares during the period. Costello Asset Management INC bought a new stake in shares of Franklin BSP Realty Trust during the 4th quarter valued at about $58,000. Finally, LaSalle St. Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Franklin BSP Realty Trust during the fourth quarter valued at about $133,000. 59.87% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Franklin BSP Realty Trust Trading Down 4.2 %

Shares of FBRT stock opened at $11.93 on Friday. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $13.02 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $12.93. Franklin BSP Realty Trust has a 12-month low of $11.81 and a 12-month high of $14.12. The company has a quick ratio of 90.45, a current ratio of 84.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.42. The firm has a market cap of $980.41 million, a P/E ratio of 14.37 and a beta of 1.37.

Franklin BSP Realty Trust (NYSE:FBRT) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The company reported $0.28 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.27 by $0.01. Franklin BSP Realty Trust had a return on equity of 8.17% and a net margin of 45.56%. The company had revenue of $55.95 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $49.28 million. Equities analysts anticipate that Franklin BSP Realty Trust will post 1.41 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Franklin BSP Realty Trust Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 10th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st will be issued a dividend of $0.355 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. This represents a $1.42 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 11.91%. Franklin BSP Realty Trust’s dividend payout ratio is presently 171.08%.

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).