Blackstone Mortgage Trust’s (BXMT) Market Perform Rating Reaffirmed at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods

Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reiterated their market perform rating on shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust (NYSE:BXMT) in a report released on Friday, Marketbeat reports. The brokerage currently has a $16.00 target price on the real estate investment trust’s stock, down from their prior target price of $20.00.

Other analysts also recently issued research reports about the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust from $20.00 to $19.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, July 17th. Zacks Research cut Blackstone Mortgage Trust from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Weiss Ratings lowered Blackstone Mortgage Trust from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research report on Monday, June 29th. Finally, UBS Group assumed coverage on Blackstone Mortgage Trust in a research report on Tuesday, June 2nd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $21.00 price target for the company. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $19.50.

Blackstone Mortgage Trust Stock Down 2.9%

Blackstone Mortgage Trust stock opened at $14.53 on Friday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $17.44 and a 200-day simple moving average of $18.59. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 161.49 and a beta of 0.90. Blackstone Mortgage Trust has a 52-week low of $14.11 and a 52-week high of $20.67.

Blackstone Mortgage Trust (NYSE:BXMT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.31 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.41 by ($0.10). The business had revenue of $158.06 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $157.32 million. Blackstone Mortgage Trust had a return on equity of 7.72% and a net margin of 1.57%. On average, research analysts anticipate that Blackstone Mortgage Trust will post 1.21 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Mortgage Trust Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 30th were given a $0.47 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, June 30th. This represents a $1.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 12.9%. Blackstone Mortgage Trust’s dividend payout ratio is presently 2,088.89%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Blackstone Mortgage Trust 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 completion of the transaction, the president owned 74,569 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,303,466.12. This trade represents a 3.12% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 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. Insiders have sold a total of 5,420 shares of company stock worth $95,233 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 1.18% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Blackstone Mortgage Trust

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in BXMT. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust in the 4th quarter worth approximately $38,239,000. Bamco Inc. NY increased its holdings in Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 1,498.1% in the 2nd quarter. Bamco Inc. NY now owns 1,594,613 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $30,696,000 after purchasing an additional 1,494,830 shares during the last quarter. UBS Group AG increased its holdings in Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 24.4% in the 3rd quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 3,082,005 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $56,740,000 after purchasing an additional 603,588 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its position in Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 70.8% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,077,590 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $19,838,000 after purchasing an additional 446,838 shares during the period. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC purchased a new stake in Blackstone Mortgage Trust in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $7,733,000. 64.15% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

More Blackstone Mortgage Trust News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Loan growth and portfolio performance were described as encouraging, while management is targeting a reduction of more than 40% in office and pre-2023 loan exposure by year-end. BXMT also plans to expand into the approximately $200 billion homebuilder-finance market, which could improve portfolio diversification over time. Blackstone Mortgage Trust exposure reduction and homebuilder finance article
• Positive Sentiment: JPMorgan lowered its price target to $18 from $19 but maintained an “overweight” rating, implying meaningful upside from current levels. The target cut appears to reflect a more cautious valuation rather than a negative fundamental view. Benzinga analyst rating report
• Neutral Sentiment: Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reaffirmed its “market perform” rating but reduced its price target sharply to $16 from $20. The new target still indicates potential upside, but the reduction signals less confidence in near-term appreciation. Finviz analyst rating report
• Negative Sentiment: Second-quarter earnings were mixed. BXMT reported revenue of $158.1 million, slightly above the $157.3 million consensus, but EPS was reported at $0.31 versus expectations of $0.38. Another earnings measure cited by Zacks showed $0.48 per share, highlighting differences between reporting metrics; nevertheless, realized gains and losses weighed on the quarter’s headline results. Blackstone Mortgage Trust earnings impact article
• Negative Sentiment: The earnings shortfall prompted a broader reassessment of BXMT, with commentary characterizing the quarter as a reason for a downgrade despite strong loan growth and performance. Continued office-market exposure and realized losses remain key investor concerns. Blackstone Mortgage Trust downgrade analysis

About Blackstone Mortgage Trust

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.