KKR Real Estate Finance Trust Inc. (NYSE:KREF) Shares Sold by New York State Teachers Retirement System

New York State Teachers Retirement System cut its holdings in shares of KKR Real Estate Finance Trust Inc. (NYSE:KREF) by 5.6% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 23,401 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,400 shares during the period. New York State Teachers Retirement System’s holdings in KKR Real Estate Finance Trust were worth $289,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of KREF. Future Financial Wealth Managment LLC acquired a new stake in KKR Real Estate Finance Trust in the third quarter valued at approximately $25,000. EntryPoint Capital LLC acquired a new stake in KKR Real Estate Finance Trust in the 1st quarter valued at $54,000. SG Americas Securities LLC purchased a new stake in KKR Real Estate Finance Trust in the 2nd quarter worth $138,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its position in KKR Real Estate Finance Trust by 17.3% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 16,846 shares of the company’s stock worth $170,000 after acquiring an additional 2,481 shares during the period. Finally, Everence Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in KKR Real Estate Finance Trust by 68.4% during the first quarter. Everence Capital Management Inc. now owns 23,160 shares of the company’s stock valued at $233,000 after purchasing an additional 9,410 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.23% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on KREF shares. JMP Securities raised their price target on shares of KKR Real Estate Finance Trust from $12.50 to $13.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Raymond James dropped their price target on KKR Real Estate Finance Trust from $14.00 to $13.50 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded KKR Real Estate Finance Trust from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $11.50 to $13.00 in a report on Thursday, September 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of KKR Real Estate Finance Trust from $11.50 to $12.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of KKR Real Estate Finance Trust from $13.00 to $14.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $12.83.

KKR Real Estate Finance Trust Stock Performance

NYSE KREF opened at $11.89 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.75, a current ratio of 277.63 and a quick ratio of 277.63. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $12.01 and its two-hundred day moving average is $10.74. KKR Real Estate Finance Trust Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $8.71 and a fifty-two week high of $14.12.

KKR Real Estate Finance Trust (NYSE:KREF) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, October 21st. The company reported $0.37 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.34 by $0.03. KKR Real Estate Finance Trust had a net margin of 0.40% and a return on equity of 9.46%. The firm had revenue of $140.15 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $39.52 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.47 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that KKR Real Estate Finance Trust Inc. will post 1.4 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

KKR Real Estate Finance Trust Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 30th were paid a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 30th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 8.41%. KKR Real Estate Finance Trust’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -333.32%.

About KKR Real Estate Finance Trust

KKR Real Estate Finance Trust Inc, a mortgage real estate investment trust, focuses primarily on originating and acquiring transitional senior loans secured by commercial real estate (CRE) assets. It engages in the origination and purchase of credit investments related to CRE, including leveraged and unleveraged commercial real estate loans.