Franklin BSP Realty Trust (NYSE:FBRT) Upgraded at B. Riley

B. Riley upgraded shares of Franklin BSP Realty Trust (NYSE:FBRT) to a strong-buy rating in a research report sent to investors on Tuesday morning,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other research firms also recently weighed in on FBRT. Janney Montgomery Scott began coverage on shares of Franklin BSP Realty Trust in a report on Thursday, December 12th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $16.00 target price on the stock. Raymond James boosted their price objective on Franklin BSP Realty Trust from $15.00 to $15.50 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $15.50.

Franklin BSP Realty Trust Trading Down 0.9 %

Shares of FBRT opened at $12.33 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.01 billion, a PE ratio of 15.04 and a beta of 1.39. The company’s fifty day moving average is $12.87 and its 200 day moving average is $12.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.67, a quick ratio of 90.45 and a current ratio of 90.45. Franklin BSP Realty Trust has a fifty-two week low of $11.99 and a fifty-two week high of $14.11.

Franklin BSP Realty Trust Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 10th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be paid a dividend of $0.355 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 31st. This represents a $1.42 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 11.52%. Franklin BSP Realty Trust’s dividend payout ratio is presently 173.17%.

Institutional Trading of Franklin BSP Realty Trust

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. FMR LLC boosted its stake in shares of Franklin BSP Realty Trust by 42.9% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,623 shares of the company’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 787 shares during the period. Fairscale Capital LLC bought a new stake in Franklin BSP Realty Trust during the 2nd quarter valued at about $41,000. KBC Group NV boosted its position in Franklin BSP Realty Trust by 51.6% in the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 4,664 shares of the company’s stock valued at $61,000 after buying an additional 1,588 shares during the period. Intech Investment Management LLC bought a new position in Franklin BSP Realty Trust in the 3rd quarter worth about $168,000. Finally, Hodges Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Franklin BSP Realty Trust during the third quarter worth approximately $189,000. 59.87% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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).