Blackstone Mortgage Trust, Inc. (NYSE:BXMT) Announces Quarterly Dividend of $0.47

Blackstone Mortgage Trust, Inc. (NYSE:BXMT) declared a quarterly dividend on Tuesday, September 15th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, September 30th will be given a dividend of 0.47 per share by the real estate investment trust on Thursday, October 15th. This represents a c) annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 14.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, September 30th.

Blackstone Mortgage Trust has decreased its dividend payment by an average of 0.1%annually over the last three years. Blackstone Mortgage Trust has a payout ratio of 104.4% indicating that the company cannot currently cover its dividend with earnings alone and is relying on its balance sheet to cover its dividend payments. Equities research analysts expect Blackstone Mortgage Trust to earn $1.22 per share next year, which means the company may not be able to cover its $1.88 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 154.1%.

Blackstone Mortgage Trust Stock Performance

Shares of BXMT opened at $13.27 on Wednesday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $14.97 and a 200-day simple moving average of $17.37. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 147.49, a P/E/G ratio of 0.31 and a beta of 0.90. Blackstone Mortgage Trust has a 52 week low of $13.10 and a 52 week high of $20.67.

Blackstone Mortgage Trust (NYSE:BXMT) last released its 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). Blackstone Mortgage Trust had a net margin of 1.57% and a return on equity of 7.72%. The company had revenue of $158.06 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $157.32 million. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Blackstone Mortgage Trust will post 0.9 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, President Fernando Pena sold 1,670 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $17.07, for a total value of $28,506.90. Following the sale, the president owned 72,899 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,244,385.93. The trade was a 2.24% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through 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. Also, Director Henry N. Nassau bought 10,000 shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 4th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $14.34 per share, for a total transaction of $143,400.00. Following the purchase, the director directly owned 218,523 shares in the company, valued at $3,133,619.82. This represents a 4.80% increase in their position. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. Corporate insiders own 1.18% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Blackstone Mortgage Trust

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Blackstone Mortgage Trust during the fourth quarter worth about $38,239,000. Bank of America Corp DE raised its stake in shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 21.9% in the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 1,297,062 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $24,839,000 after acquiring an additional 233,357 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new position in shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust in the second quarter valued at approximately $18,109,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 2.6% in the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 770,901 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $14,763,000 after acquiring an additional 19,423 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Punch & Associates Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 0.6% in the 1st quarter. Punch & Associates Investment Management Inc. now owns 483,624 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $9,261,000 after acquiring an additional 2,971 shares in the last quarter. 64.15% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Blackstone Mortgage Trust Company Profile

Blackstone Mortgage Trust, Inc is a real estate investment trust (REIT) that originates and holds senior mortgage loans secured by commercial real estate. Its lending activities primarily focus on transitional and institutional-quality properties, including office, multifamily, hotel, industrial, retail and other commercial assets.

The company’s portfolio is concentrated in major real estate markets in the United States, Europe and Australia. Its loans are generally floating-rate and are designed to provide financing for acquisitions, refinancings, renovations, development and other commercial real estate activities.

Blackstone Mortgage Trust is externally managed by BXMT Advisors LLC, an affiliate of Blackstone.