Van ECK Associates Corp Raises Holdings in Franklin BSP Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:FBRT)

Van ECK Associates Corp raised its holdings in shares of Franklin BSP Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:FBRT) by 16.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 725,963 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 104,599 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp owned approximately 0.89% of Franklin BSP Realty Trust worth $9,104,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its stake in Franklin BSP Realty Trust by 62.3% during the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 124,148 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,621,000 after purchasing an additional 47,650 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC boosted its stake in Franklin BSP Realty Trust by 22.0% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 136,534 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,784,000 after purchasing an additional 24,633 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Franklin BSP Realty Trust by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,939,515 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,335,000 after purchasing an additional 9,428 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Franklin BSP Realty Trust by 42.9% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,623 shares of the company’s stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 787 shares during the period. Finally, Strong Tower Advisory Services lifted its holdings in shares of 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 buying an additional 101,951 shares during the period. 59.87% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on FBRT shares. Janney Montgomery Scott started coverage on Franklin BSP Realty Trust in a report on Thursday, December 12th. They set a “buy” rating and a $16.00 price target on the stock. B. Riley raised Franklin BSP Realty Trust to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $15.63.

Franklin BSP Realty Trust Price Performance

Shares of Franklin BSP Realty Trust stock opened at $13.21 on Monday. Franklin BSP Realty Trust, Inc. has a one year low of $11.96 and a one year high of $14.11. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $12.70 and its 200 day moving average is $12.90. The stock has a market cap of $1.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.10 and a beta of 1.39. 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 (NYSE:FBRT) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The company reported $0.28 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.27 by $0.01. Franklin BSP Realty Trust had a return on equity of 8.92% and a net margin of 45.58%. The company had revenue of $55.95 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $49.28 million. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Franklin BSP Realty Trust, Inc. will post 1.29 earnings per share for the current year.

Franklin BSP Realty Trust Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 10th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 31st were issued a $0.355 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 31st. This represents a $1.42 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 10.75%. Franklin BSP Realty Trust’s dividend payout ratio is currently 173.17%.

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).