Franklin BSP Realty Trust, Inc. $FBRT Stake Raised by Strong Tower Advisory Services

Strong Tower Advisory Services lifted its position in shares of Franklin BSP Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:FBRT) by 4.7% during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 1,408,626 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 63,138 shares during the period. Franklin BSP Realty Trust accounts for 3.0% of Strong Tower Advisory Services’ portfolio, making the stock its 8th biggest position. Strong Tower Advisory Services’ holdings in Franklin BSP Realty Trust were worth $15,058,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of FBRT. AlphaQuest LLC acquired a new position in shares of Franklin BSP Realty Trust during the first quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Tortoise Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Franklin BSP Realty Trust during the first quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division raised its holdings in shares of Franklin BSP Realty Trust by 100.0% during the second quarter. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division now owns 5,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $53,000 after acquiring an additional 2,500 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in shares of Franklin BSP Realty Trust by 1,683.5% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 4,637 shares of the company’s stock valued at $59,000 after acquiring an additional 4,377 shares during the last quarter. Finally, PNC Financial Services Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Franklin BSP Realty Trust by 138.1% during the first quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 5,044 shares of the company’s stock valued at $64,000 after acquiring an additional 2,926 shares during the last quarter. 59.87% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have commented on the company. Jones Trading reduced their target price on Franklin BSP Realty Trust from $14.00 to $13.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, August 6th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Franklin BSP Realty Trust in a research note on Wednesday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have issued a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $14.67.

Franklin BSP Realty Trust Trading Up 0.2%

FBRT opened at $10.59 on Friday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $11.17 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $11.16. The firm has a market capitalization of $871.29 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.81 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.21, a current ratio of 81.24 and a quick ratio of 81.24. Franklin BSP Realty Trust, Inc. has a 1-year low of $9.79 and a 1-year high of $13.58.

Franklin BSP Realty Trust Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 10th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 30th were issued a dividend of $0.355 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 30th. This represents a $1.42 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 13.4%. Franklin BSP Realty Trust’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 144.90%.

Franklin BSP Realty Trust 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).