Blackstone Mortgage Trust, Inc. (NYSE:BXMT) Given Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

Blackstone Mortgage Trust, Inc. (NYSE:BXMT) has been given a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” by the seven ratings firms that are covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month target price among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $21.1250.

Several equities analysts recently commented on BXMT shares. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust in a report on Monday, December 29th. BTIG Research reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $23.00 price target on shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust in a research note on Tuesday, February 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust from $19.00 to $20.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 4th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on Blackstone Mortgage Trust from $21.00 to $21.50 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 12th. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded Blackstone Mortgage Trust from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 24th.

Blackstone Mortgage Trust Stock Performance

BXMT stock opened at $19.14 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $3.23 billion, a PE ratio of 29.44 and a beta of 1.06. Blackstone Mortgage Trust has a one year low of $16.51 and a one year high of $20.67. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $19.27 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $19.12.

Blackstone Mortgage Trust Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 31st will be given a dividend of $0.47 per share. This represents a $1.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 9.8%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 31st. Blackstone Mortgage Trust’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 289.23%.

Institutional Trading of Blackstone Mortgage Trust

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Jones Financial Companies Lllp increased its stake in shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 45.5% in the first quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 1,715 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 536 shares during the period. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC boosted its position in Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 7.1% during the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 570,233 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $11,405,000 after buying an additional 37,838 shares during the period. Intech Investment Management LLC boosted its position in Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 5.0% during the 1st quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 73,679 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,474,000 after buying an additional 3,478 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc grew its holdings in Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 11.1% in the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 515,477 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $9,923,000 after acquiring an additional 51,309 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. grew its holdings in Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 11.4% in the 2nd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 14,671 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $282,000 after acquiring an additional 1,502 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 64.15% of the company’s stock.

About Blackstone Mortgage Trust

Blackstone Mortgage Trust, Inc (NYSE: BXMT) is a publicly traded real estate finance company that originates, acquires and manages commercial mortgage loans and other CRE debt investments. As an externally managed real estate investment trust (REIT), it seeks to generate attractive risk-adjusted returns through the deployment of senior floating-rate and fixed-rate loans backed by income-producing properties.

The firm’s core business activities span the origination of senior mortgage loans, the acquisition of loan portfolios and other real estate debt instruments, and the active management of those investments.