Franklin BSP Realty Trust (NYSE:FBRT) Shares Gap Up to $12.51

Franklin BSP Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:FBRT) shares gapped up prior to trading on Friday . The stock had previously closed at $12.51, but opened at $12.85. Franklin BSP Realty Trust shares last traded at $12.66, with a volume of 60,478 shares traded.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Jonestrading cut their price objective on shares of Franklin BSP Realty Trust from $16.00 to $15.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 16th. Raymond James raised Franklin BSP Realty Trust from an “outperform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and set a $15.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Friday. Finally, JMP Securities upgraded Franklin BSP Realty Trust from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $15.00 target price for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 10th.

Franklin BSP Realty Trust Trading Down 1.2 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.15, a current ratio of 83.74 and a quick ratio of 83.74. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $12.85 and its 200 day moving average price is $13.11. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.77 and a beta of 1.43.

Franklin BSP Realty Trust Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 29th were given a dividend of $0.355 per share. This represents a $1.42 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 11.49%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 27th. Franklin BSP Realty Trust’s payout ratio is 100.71%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Franklin BSP Realty Trust

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Franklin BSP Realty Trust during the first quarter valued at about $680,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its position in Franklin BSP Realty Trust by 3.0% during the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 374,100 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,231,000 after acquiring an additional 10,905 shares in the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Franklin BSP Realty Trust by 70.0% during the 1st quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 2,881 shares of the company’s stock worth $39,000 after acquiring an additional 1,186 shares during the period. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund bought a new position in shares of Franklin BSP Realty Trust in the 1st quarter worth approximately $851,000. Finally, MetLife Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Franklin BSP Realty Trust by 49.8% in the 1st quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 21,555 shares of the company’s stock valued at $301,000 after purchasing an additional 7,167 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 59.87% of the company’s stock.

About Franklin BSP Realty Trust

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).