Franklin BSP Realty Trust (NYSE:FBRT) Stock Bumped Down to “Sell” by Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Franklin BSP Realty Trust (NYSE:FBRT) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a report published on Saturday,Wall Street Zen reports.

Several other research firms have also recently commented on FBRT. UBS Group set a $10.00 price target on shares of Franklin BSP Realty Trust in a report on Wednesday, September 23rd. BTIG Research downgraded shares of Franklin BSP Realty Trust from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, September 18th. Weiss Ratings lowered Franklin BSP Realty Trust from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “sell (d)” rating in a report on Thursday, October 8th. Citigroup reissued a “market outperform” rating on shares of Franklin BSP Realty Trust in a research report on Wednesday, September 23rd. Finally, Zacks Research downgraded Franklin BSP Realty Trust from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 28th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $10.75.

Franklin BSP Realty Trust Stock Performance

FBRT stock opened at $6.20 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $6.91 and a 200 day simple moving average of $8.26. Franklin BSP Realty Trust has a 52 week low of $5.90 and a 52 week high of $10.82. The stock has a market cap of $469.38 million, a P/E ratio of -77.53 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.60, a quick ratio of 83.00 and a current ratio of 83.00.

Franklin BSP Realty Trust (NYSE:FBRT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 28th. The company reported ($0.02) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.25 by ($0.27). Franklin BSP Realty Trust had a net margin of 6.38% and a return on equity of 4.30%. The company had revenue of $22.11 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $72.54 million. Research analysts anticipate that Franklin BSP Realty Trust will post 0.73 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Franklin BSP Realty Trust Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 13th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, September 30th were given a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 12.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, September 30th. Franklin BSP Realty Trust’s dividend payout ratio is presently -1,000.00%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Richard J. Byrne bought 162,600 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 3rd. The shares were bought at an average cost of $6.14 per share, for a total transaction of $998,364.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer directly owned 162,600 shares in the company, valued at approximately $998,364. This represents a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders bought 164,664 shares of company stock worth $1,024,104 in the last 90 days. 1.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in FBRT. Independent Financial Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Franklin BSP Realty Trust in the first quarter valued at approximately $1,117,000. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL boosted its holdings in shares of Franklin BSP Realty Trust by 64.3% during the 1st quarter. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL now owns 188,917 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,604,000 after buying an additional 73,955 shares during the period. Squarepoint Ops LLC bought a new stake in shares of Franklin BSP Realty Trust during the 2nd quarter worth $564,000. Q Global Advisors LLC grew its stake in Franklin BSP Realty Trust by 32.1% in the 1st quarter. Q Global Advisors LLC now owns 398,078 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,380,000 after buying an additional 96,723 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Waverly Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Franklin BSP Realty Trust in the 1st quarter valued at $255,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 59.87% of the company’s stock.

Franklin BSP Realty Trust Company Profile

Franklin BSP Realty Trust (NYSE: FBRT) is a real estate investment trust focused on commercial real estate finance. The company originates, acquires and manages a diversified portfolio of commercial real estate debt investments, with an emphasis on loans secured by properties in the United States.

Its investment activities primarily include senior mortgage loans, subordinate and mezzanine loans, preferred equity investments and other debt-related instruments. The portfolio is designed to provide financing to owners and operators of commercial properties across sectors such as multifamily, office, industrial, retail, hospitality and other specialty real estate.

Franklin BSP Realty Trust was formerly known as Benefit Street Partners Realty Trust and operates under the Franklin BSP platform.