New York State Teachers Retirement System Purchases 5,215 Shares of Franklin BSP Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:FBRT)

New York State Teachers Retirement System lifted its position in shares of Franklin BSP Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:FBRT) by 9.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 58,510 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,215 shares during the period. New York State Teachers Retirement System owned 0.07% of Franklin BSP Realty Trust worth $790,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. raised its position in Franklin BSP Realty Trust by 70.0% in the first 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. Quantbot Technologies LP bought a new stake in Franklin BSP Realty Trust in the first quarter worth about $40,000. Captrust Financial Advisors purchased a new position in shares of Franklin BSP Realty Trust in the second quarter worth about $68,000. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank purchased a new position in shares of Franklin BSP Realty Trust in the second quarter worth about $74,000. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its stake in shares of Franklin BSP Realty Trust by 280.4% in the third quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 6,041 shares of the company’s stock worth $80,000 after purchasing an additional 4,453 shares in the last quarter. 59.87% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Franklin BSP Realty Trust Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:FBRT opened at $12.37 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $12.83 and a 200 day moving average of $13.08. The stock has a market cap of $1.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.77 and a beta of 1.43. Franklin BSP Realty Trust, Inc. has a 12 month low of $11.73 and a 12 month high of $14.70. The company has a current ratio of 83.74, a quick ratio of 83.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.15.

Franklin BSP Realty Trust Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 10th. Investors of record on Friday, March 29th were paid a dividend of $0.355 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 27th. This represents a $1.42 annualized dividend and a yield of 11.48%. Franklin BSP Realty Trust’s dividend payout ratio is currently 100.71%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Raymond James upgraded shares of Franklin BSP Realty Trust from an “outperform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and set a $15.00 target price for the company in a research note on Friday, April 12th. JMP Securities upgraded shares of 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 research note on Wednesday, January 10th. BTIG Research reduced their target price on shares of Franklin BSP Realty Trust from $15.00 to $14.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Jonestrading reduced 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.

Franklin BSP Realty Trust Company Profile

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).