Blackstone Mortgage Trust (NYSE:BXMT) Receives Market Perform Rating from JMP Securities

JMP Securities reissued their market perform rating on shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust (NYSE:BXMT) in a research note published on Tuesday, MarketBeat.com reports.

Several other research analysts have also issued reports on BXMT. UBS Group decreased their price target on shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust from $21.00 to $19.00 and set a neutral rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods restated a market perform rating and set a $18.00 price objective on shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust in a research note on Tuesday, June 18th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust from $22.00 to $20.00 and set an overweight rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust from $18.50 to $17.50 and set a neutral rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. Finally, Wolfe Research assumed coverage on shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust in a research note on Tuesday, June 25th. They set a peer perform rating for the company. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $19.93.

Blackstone Mortgage Trust Stock Up 1.1 %

Shares of BXMT opened at $17.60 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 586.50 and a beta of 1.49. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $17.87 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $18.91. Blackstone Mortgage Trust has a twelve month low of $16.70 and a twelve month high of $23.82.

Blackstone Mortgage Trust (NYSE:BXMT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 24th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.51 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.47 by $0.04. Blackstone Mortgage Trust had a negative net margin of 7.98% and a positive return on equity of 10.16%. The business had revenue of $466.15 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $131.87 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.75 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Blackstone Mortgage Trust will post 2.15 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Mortgage Trust Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Investors of record on Monday, September 30th will be issued a $0.47 dividend. This represents a $1.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 10.68%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 30th. Blackstone Mortgage Trust’s payout ratio is 8,266.67%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Katharine A. Keenan sold 2,296 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $17.04, for a total value of $39,123.84. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 187,468 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,194,454.72. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In related news, CEO Katharine A. Keenan sold 2,296 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $17.04, for a total value of $39,123.84. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 187,468 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,194,454.72. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Katharine A. Keenan sold 4,508 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $17.53, for a total transaction of $79,025.24. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 182,960 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,207,288.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 11,057 shares of company stock valued at $191,141. 0.93% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Blackstone Mortgage Trust

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in BXMT. Park Place Capital Corp bought a new stake in Blackstone Mortgage Trust during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $26,000. Versant Capital Management Inc raised its position in shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 66.4% during the second quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 2,183 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 871 shares during the last quarter. Cape Investment Advisory Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $42,000. GAMMA Investing LLC bought a new stake in shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $45,000. Finally, Creekmur Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $51,000. Institutional investors own 64.15% of the company’s stock.

About Blackstone Mortgage Trust

Blackstone Mortgage Trust, Inc, a real estate finance company, originates senior loans collateralized by commercial properties in North America, Europe, and Australia. The company originates and acquires senior floating rate mortgage loans that are secured by a first-priority mortgage on commercial real estate assets.