Raymond James Financial Inc. Makes New Investment in Franklin BSP Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:FBRT)

Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in Franklin BSP Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:FBRT) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 68,487 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $859,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. owned about 0.08% of Franklin BSP Realty Trust as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Barclays PLC boosted its position in shares of Franklin BSP Realty Trust by 22.0% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 136,534 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,784,000 after buying an additional 24,633 shares during the period. Strong Tower Advisory Services boosted its holdings in Franklin BSP Realty Trust by 9.7% during the 4th quarter. Strong Tower Advisory Services now owns 1,157,111 shares of the company’s stock valued at $14,510,000 after acquiring an additional 101,951 shares during the period. Mutual Advisors LLC grew its position in Franklin BSP Realty Trust by 7.7% in the 4th quarter. Mutual Advisors LLC now owns 19,728 shares of the company’s stock valued at $247,000 after acquiring an additional 1,402 shares in the last quarter. Costello Asset Management INC purchased a new stake in Franklin BSP Realty Trust during the fourth quarter worth about $58,000. Finally, Hodges Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Franklin BSP Realty Trust by 49.8% during the fourth quarter. Hodges Capital Management Inc. now owns 21,692 shares of the company’s stock worth $272,000 after purchasing an additional 7,216 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 59.87% of the company’s stock.

Franklin BSP Realty Trust Stock Down 0.8 %

FBRT stock opened at $11.36 on Tuesday. The company’s 50 day moving average is $12.27 and its two-hundred day moving average is $12.65. Franklin BSP Realty Trust, Inc. has a twelve month low of $10.50 and a twelve month high of $14.12. The company has a current ratio of 84.89, a quick ratio of 90.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.42. The stock has a market cap of $933.72 million, a P/E ratio of 13.68 and a beta of 1.07.

Franklin BSP Realty Trust (NYSE:FBRT) last announced 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 firm had revenue of $55.95 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $49.28 million. Franklin BSP Realty Trust had a net margin of 45.56% and a return on equity of 8.17%. Research analysts expect that Franklin BSP Realty Trust, Inc. will post 1.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Franklin BSP Realty Trust Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st were paid a dividend of $0.355 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 31st. This represents a $1.42 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 12.50%. Franklin BSP Realty Trust’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 208.82%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on FBRT shares. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating and set a $15.00 target price on shares of Franklin BSP Realty Trust in a research note on Tuesday, April 29th. Jones Trading cut their price objective on Franklin BSP Realty Trust from $15.00 to $14.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 29th. B. Riley upgraded Franklin BSP Realty Trust to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Citigroup restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Franklin BSP Realty Trust in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average 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).