Principal Financial Group Inc. Has $4.98 Million Stake in Franklin BSP Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:FBRT)

Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Franklin BSP Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:FBRT) by 2.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 396,888 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 11,138 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Franklin BSP Realty Trust were worth $4,977,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Franklin BSP Realty Trust by 13.0% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,026,290 shares of the company’s stock valued at $13,403,000 after buying an additional 117,745 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its stake in Franklin BSP Realty Trust by 3.6% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,359,241 shares of the company’s stock valued at $45,059,000 after acquiring an additional 116,589 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its holdings in Franklin BSP Realty Trust by 16.8% during the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 725,963 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,104,000 after purchasing an additional 104,599 shares during the last quarter. Strong Tower Advisory Services boosted its position in Franklin BSP Realty Trust by 9.7% during the fourth quarter. Strong Tower Advisory Services now owns 1,157,111 shares of the company’s stock worth $14,510,000 after purchasing an additional 101,951 shares during the period. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its holdings in shares of Franklin BSP Realty Trust by 62.3% in the third 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. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 59.87% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on FBRT. B. Riley upgraded shares of Franklin BSP Realty Trust to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. 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 price target on the stock. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $15.63.

Franklin BSP Realty Trust Stock Down 2.2 %

FBRT stock opened at $13.25 on Tuesday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $12.77 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $12.96. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.96 and a beta of 1.39. Franklin BSP Realty Trust, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $11.96 and a fifty-two week high of $14.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.42, a current ratio of 84.89 and a quick ratio of 90.45.

Franklin BSP Realty Trust (NYSE:FBRT) last released its quarterly 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. The business had revenue of $55.95 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $49.28 million. Franklin BSP Realty Trust had a net margin of 45.56% and a return on equity of 8.17%. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Franklin BSP Realty Trust, Inc. will post 1.41 earnings per share for the current year.

Franklin BSP Realty Trust Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 10th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st were given a $0.355 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 31st. This represents a $1.42 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 10.72%. Franklin BSP Realty Trust’s payout ratio is 171.08%.

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).