Blackstone Mortgage Trust (NYSE:BXMT) Issues Earnings Results

Blackstone Mortgage Trust (NYSE:BXMT) announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday. The real estate investment trust reported $0.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.38 by ($0.07), FiscalAI reports. The business had revenue of $158.06 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $157.32 million. Blackstone Mortgage Trust had a net margin of 8.75% and a return on equity of 6.11%.

Here are the key takeaways from Blackstone Mortgage Trust’s conference call:

• Distributable earnings before realized gains and losses were $0.48 per share, covering the $0.47 dividend, although GAAP results showed a $0.48-per-share loss and distributable earnings including realized losses were $0.31 per share.
• BXMT received $1.2 billion of repayments and deployed $1.4 billion into newer investments focused on residential, industrial, and net lease assets. Management expects office and pre-2023 loan exposure to decline by at least 40% by year-end.
• Portfolio performance weakened modestly, with 97% of loans performing versus 98% last quarter and three new impairments, including a $345 million Chicago office loan. Higher interest rates are increasing pressure on roughly $1 billion of watchlist loans, primarily lower-cash-flow office assets.
• The company entered homebuilder finance, citing a roughly $200 billion addressable market, reduced bank lending, granular collateral, and expected mid-to-high-teens levered yields. Its net lease portfolio also expanded to $661 million, with more than $150 million of acquisitions closed or pending in July.
• Book value fell 4% to $19.31 per share, largely because of higher CECL reserves and real estate depreciation, while management warned that impairments, repayments, and portfolio-rotation efforts could weigh on third-quarter earnings and may factor into the board’s dividend review.

Blackstone Mortgage Trust Price Performance

NYSE:BXMT traded down $0.73 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $14.24. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 2,144,882 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,524,512. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $17.51 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $18.62. Blackstone Mortgage Trust has a twelve month low of $14.11 and a twelve month high of $20.67. The stock has a market cap of $2.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.39 and a beta of 0.90.

Blackstone Mortgage Trust Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 30th were given a dividend of $0.47 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, June 30th. This represents a $1.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 13.2%. Blackstone Mortgage Trust’s dividend payout ratio is 308.20%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently issued reports on BXMT. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on Blackstone Mortgage Trust from $20.00 to $19.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, July 17th. UBS Group initiated coverage on Blackstone Mortgage Trust in a research note on Tuesday, June 2nd. They set a “buy” rating and a $21.00 price objective on the stock. Weiss Ratings cut Blackstone Mortgage Trust from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research report on Monday, June 29th. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 22nd. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods restated a “market perform” rating and issued a $16.00 target price (down from $20.00) on shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust in a report on Friday. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Blackstone Mortgage Trust currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $19.75.

Insider Buying and Selling at Blackstone Mortgage Trust

In other news, President Fernando Austin Pena sold 2,398 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $17.48, for a total transaction of $41,917.04. Following the transaction, the president directly owned 74,569 shares in the company, valued at $1,303,466.12. This represents a 3.12% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 5,420 shares of company stock worth $95,233. Corporate insiders own 1.18% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Blackstone Mortgage Trust

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Jones Financial Companies Lllp boosted its holdings in shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 45.5% in the 1st quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 1,715 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 536 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC raised its position in shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 7.1% in the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 570,233 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $11,405,000 after buying an additional 37,838 shares during the period. Intech Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 5.0% in the first quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 73,679 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,474,000 after acquiring an additional 3,478 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. grew its position in Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 28.1% during the second quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 630,752 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $12,142,000 after acquiring an additional 138,469 shares during the period. Finally, Jump Financial LLC acquired a new stake in Blackstone Mortgage Trust during the second quarter worth about $226,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.15% of the company’s stock.

More Blackstone Mortgage Trust News

Here are the key news stories impacting Blackstone Mortgage Trust this week:

• Positive Sentiment: On an adjusted basis, BXMT reported second-quarter earnings of $0.48 per share, above the $0.38 consensus estimate and well ahead of $0.19 a year earlier. Revenue of approximately $158.1 million also modestly exceeded expectations. Blackstone Mortgage Trust Surpasses Q2 Earnings and Revenue Estimates
• Positive Sentiment: Management plans to reduce office and pre-2023 loan exposure by more than 40% by year-end, which could lower risk from challenged commercial real estate assets. BXMT is also entering the roughly $200 billion homebuilder-finance market, creating a potential avenue for portfolio growth and diversification. Blackstone Mortgage Trust Targets Exposure Reduction
• Neutral Sentiment: The earnings release showed a significant difference between adjusted and reported results: one report cited $0.48 in quarterly earnings, while reported EPS was $0.31, below the $0.38 analyst consensus. The discrepancy reflects the impact of realized gains and losses, making underlying performance more difficult for investors to assess. Realized Gains and Losses Hit Q2 Earnings
• Negative Sentiment: Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reaffirmed its “market perform” rating but cut its BXMT price target to $16 from $20. Although the new target still implies potential upside from the referenced $14.93 share price, the reduction signals weaker confidence in near-term valuation and is likely weighing on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette and Woods Cuts Price Target

Blackstone Mortgage Trust Company Profile

Blackstone Mortgage Trust, Inc (NYSE: BXMT) is a publicly traded real estate finance company that originates, acquires and manages commercial mortgage loans and other CRE debt investments. As an externally managed real estate investment trust (REIT), it seeks to generate attractive risk-adjusted returns through the deployment of senior floating-rate and fixed-rate loans backed by income-producing properties.

The firm’s core business activities span the origination of senior mortgage loans, the acquisition of loan portfolios and other real estate debt instruments, and the active management of those investments.