Raymond James & Associates Takes Position in Franklin BSP Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:FBRT)

Raymond James & Associates bought a new position in shares of Franklin BSP Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:FBRT) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 15,332 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $207,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in FBRT. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund acquired a new stake in Franklin BSP Realty Trust during the third quarter worth about $645,000. Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Franklin BSP Realty Trust by 74.7% in the 3rd quarter. Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. now owns 108,691 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,439,000 after purchasing an additional 46,469 shares during the period. Gabelli Funds LLC purchased a new stake in Franklin BSP Realty Trust during the third quarter worth $669,000. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted its holdings in Franklin BSP Realty Trust by 280.4% during the third quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 6,041 shares of the company’s stock worth $80,000 after buying an additional 4,453 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Tower Research Capital LLC TRC increased its holdings in Franklin BSP Realty Trust by 546.6% in the third quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 28,779 shares of the company’s stock valued at $381,000 after buying an additional 24,328 shares in the last quarter. 59.87% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on FBRT shares. JMP Securities upgraded Franklin BSP Realty Trust from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $15.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 10th. Jonestrading dropped their price target on shares of Franklin BSP Realty Trust from $16.00 to $15.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 16th. Raymond James upgraded Franklin BSP Realty Trust from an “outperform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and set a $15.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Friday, April 12th. Finally, 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 report on Wednesday, April 17th.

Franklin BSP Realty Trust Stock Performance

NYSE:FBRT opened at $12.50 on Wednesday. Franklin BSP Realty Trust, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $11.73 and a fifty-two week high of $14.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.15, a quick ratio of 83.74 and a current ratio of 83.74. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $12.82 and a 200 day moving average price of $13.06. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.86 and a beta of 1.43.

Franklin BSP Realty Trust (NYSE:FBRT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 29th. The company reported $0.41 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.42 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $53.95 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $54.64 million. Franklin BSP Realty Trust had a return on equity of 14.57% and a net margin of 55.02%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.44 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Franklin BSP Realty Trust, Inc. will post 1.69 EPS for the current year.

Franklin BSP Realty Trust Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 10th. Investors of record on Friday, March 29th were issued a $0.355 dividend. This represents a $1.42 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 11.36%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 27th. Franklin BSP Realty Trust’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 100.71%.

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).