The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company Sells 1,290 Shares of Franklin BSP Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:FBRT)

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lessened its position in shares of Franklin BSP Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:FBRT) by 3.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 38,950 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,290 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company’s holdings in Franklin BSP Realty Trust were worth $488,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Quarry LP bought a new position in Franklin BSP Realty Trust during the 4th quarter worth about $32,000. Costello Asset Management INC bought a new position in Franklin BSP Realty Trust during the 4th quarter worth about $58,000. LaSalle St. Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in Franklin BSP Realty Trust during the 4th quarter worth about $133,000. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd bought a new position in Franklin BSP Realty Trust during the 4th quarter worth about $147,000. Finally, Stifel Financial Corp bought a new position in shares of Franklin BSP Realty Trust in the 4th quarter valued at about $148,000. Institutional investors own 59.87% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

FBRT has been the subject of several analyst reports. Citigroup restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Franklin BSP Realty Trust in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. Jones Trading decreased their price objective on Franklin BSP Realty Trust from $15.00 to $14.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 29th. Finally, JMP Securities restated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $15.00 price objective on shares of Franklin BSP Realty Trust in a report on Tuesday, April 29th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Franklin BSP Realty Trust currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $15.30.

Franklin BSP Realty Trust Stock Up 0.2%

NYSE FBRT opened at $11.54 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 84.89, a quick ratio of 90.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.42. Franklin BSP Realty Trust, Inc. has a 1-year low of $10.50 and a 1-year high of $14.12. The company has a 50 day moving average of $11.92 and a 200-day moving average of $12.56. The company has a market cap of $948.93 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.91 and a beta of 1.07.

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. Franklin BSP Realty Trust had a net margin of 45.56% and a return on equity of 8.17%. The company had revenue of $55.95 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $49.28 million. On average, equities 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 Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st were given a dividend of $0.355 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 31st. This represents a $1.42 annualized dividend and a yield of 12.30%. Franklin BSP Realty Trust’s dividend payout ratio is currently 208.82%.

About Franklin BSP Realty Trust

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).