Franklin BSP Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:FBRT) Position Increased by Wells Fargo & Company MN

Wells Fargo & Company MN boosted its stake in shares of Franklin BSP Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:FBRT) by 22.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 51,573 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 9,559 shares during the quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN owned approximately 0.06% of Franklin BSP Realty Trust worth $647,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in FBRT. GraniteShares Advisors LLC bought a new position in Franklin BSP Realty Trust in the 4th quarter worth approximately $2,475,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Franklin BSP Realty Trust by 13.3% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,162,977 shares of the company’s stock worth $14,584,000 after purchasing an additional 136,687 shares in the last quarter. Condor Capital Management increased its holdings in shares of Franklin BSP Realty Trust by 58.7% during the fourth quarter. Condor Capital Management now owns 302,192 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,789,000 after purchasing an additional 111,813 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its stake in shares of Franklin BSP Realty Trust by 16.8% during the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 725,963 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,104,000 after purchasing an additional 104,599 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Strong Tower Advisory Services lifted its holdings in Franklin BSP Realty Trust by 9.7% in the fourth quarter. Strong Tower Advisory Services now owns 1,157,111 shares of the company’s stock worth $14,510,000 after purchasing an additional 101,951 shares during the period. 59.87% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Franklin BSP Realty Trust Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:FBRT opened at $11.37 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.42, a quick ratio of 90.45 and a current ratio of 84.89. The company has a market capitalization of $950.53 million, a PE ratio of 13.69 and a beta of 1.14. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $12.34 and a 200-day moving average of $12.68. Franklin BSP Realty Trust, Inc. has a one year low of $10.50 and a one year high of $14.12.

Franklin BSP Realty Trust (NYSE:FBRT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The company reported $0.28 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.27 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $55.95 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $49.28 million. Franklin BSP Realty Trust had a return on equity of 8.17% and a net margin of 45.56%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Franklin BSP Realty Trust, Inc. will post 1.41 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Franklin BSP Realty Trust Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st were issued a dividend of $0.355 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 31st. This represents a $1.42 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 12.49%. Franklin BSP Realty Trust’s dividend payout ratio is currently 208.82%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have commented on FBRT shares. Jones Trading dropped their price target on shares of Franklin BSP Realty Trust from $15.00 to $14.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday. JMP Securities reissued a “market outperform” rating and set a $15.00 target price on shares of Franklin BSP Realty Trust in a report on Tuesday. Citigroup reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Franklin BSP Realty Trust in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. Finally, B. Riley upgraded Franklin BSP Realty Trust to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Franklin BSP Realty Trust currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $15.30.

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).