Franklin BSP Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:FBRT) Shares Sold by Prudential Financial Inc.

Prudential Financial Inc. lowered its position in shares of Franklin BSP Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:FBRT) by 56.1% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 83,599 shares of the company’s stock after selling 106,700 shares during the period. Prudential Financial Inc.’s holdings in Franklin BSP Realty Trust were worth $1,048,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. FMR LLC grew its stake in shares of Franklin BSP Realty Trust by 42.9% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,623 shares of the company’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 787 shares in the last quarter. Costello Asset Management INC acquired a new position in shares of Franklin BSP Realty Trust in the fourth quarter worth about $58,000. Longboard Asset Management LP acquired a new stake in Franklin BSP Realty Trust during the 4th quarter valued at $174,000. Hodges Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in Franklin BSP Realty Trust during the third quarter valued at $189,000. Finally, KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS purchased a new stake in Franklin BSP Realty Trust in the 4th quarter worth about $194,000. Institutional investors own 59.87% of the company’s stock.

Franklin BSP Realty Trust Stock Down 4.2 %

FBRT stock opened at $11.93 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $980.41 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.37 and a beta of 1.14. The company has a 50-day moving average of $13.02 and a two-hundred day moving average of $12.93. Franklin BSP Realty Trust, Inc. has a 52-week low of $11.81 and a 52-week high of $14.12. 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 issued 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. Franklin BSP Realty Trust had a return on equity of 8.17% and a net margin of 45.56%. The company had revenue of $55.95 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $49.28 million. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Franklin BSP Realty Trust, Inc. will post 1.41 EPS for the current year.

Franklin BSP Realty Trust Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be given a $0.355 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. This represents a $1.42 annualized dividend and a yield of 11.91%. Franklin BSP Realty Trust’s dividend payout ratio is 171.08%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have weighed in on FBRT. B. Riley raised Franklin BSP Realty Trust to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Jones Trading reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $15.00 price objective on shares of Franklin BSP Realty Trust in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. Janney Montgomery Scott assumed coverage on Franklin BSP Realty Trust in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. They set a “buy” rating and a $16.00 price target for the company. Finally, Citigroup restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Franklin BSP Realty Trust in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $15.50.

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).