Van ECK Associates Corp Buys 6,312 Shares of Franklin BSP Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:FBRT)

Van ECK Associates Corp raised its stake in Franklin BSP Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:FBRT) by 1.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 490,114 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 6,312 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp owned about 0.60% of Franklin BSP Realty Trust worth $6,621,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. New York State Common Retirement Fund increased its holdings in shares of Franklin BSP Realty Trust by 84.2% during the fourth quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 64,188 shares of the company’s stock worth $867,000 after buying an additional 29,339 shares in the last quarter. Tyche Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Franklin BSP Realty Trust during the 4th quarter valued at $162,000. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank raised its position in Franklin BSP Realty Trust by 30.2% in the 4th quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 18,327 shares of the company’s stock valued at $248,000 after purchasing an additional 4,246 shares during the last quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System acquired a new position in Franklin BSP Realty Trust in the fourth quarter worth $555,000. Finally, New York State Teachers Retirement System grew its holdings in shares of Franklin BSP Realty Trust by 9.8% during the fourth quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System now owns 58,510 shares of the company’s stock worth $790,000 after purchasing an additional 5,215 shares during the last quarter. 59.87% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Franklin BSP Realty Trust Price Performance

Shares of FBRT stock opened at $12.77 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $1.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.67 and a beta of 1.43. Franklin BSP Realty Trust, Inc. has a 12 month low of $11.99 and a 12 month high of $14.70. The company has a quick ratio of 83.74, a current ratio of 88.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.21. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $12.83 and a 200 day moving average price of $13.06.

Franklin BSP Realty Trust (NYSE:FBRT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The company reported $0.41 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.42 by ($0.01). Franklin BSP Realty Trust had a return on equity of 14.32% and a net margin of 53.82%. The business had revenue of $53.95 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $54.64 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.44 EPS. Research analysts expect that Franklin BSP Realty Trust, Inc. will post 1.68 EPS for the current year.

Franklin BSP Realty Trust Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 11.12%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 27th. Franklin BSP Realty Trust’s payout ratio is 107.58%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently issued reports on FBRT. JMP Securities raised Franklin BSP Realty Trust from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $15.00 price target for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 10th. BTIG Research dropped 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, April 17th. Raymond James raised shares of Franklin BSP Realty Trust from an “outperform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and set a $15.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 12th. Finally, Jonestrading dropped 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 report 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).