Franklin BSP Realty Trust (NYSE:FBRT) Hits New 1-Year Low – Should You Sell?

Franklin BSP Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:FBRT)’s share price reached a new 52-week low on Thursday . The company traded as low as $10.55 and last traded at $11.58, with a volume of 1067813 shares. The stock had previously closed at $11.11.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Jones Trading reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $15.00 price objective on shares of Franklin BSP Realty Trust in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. B. Riley raised shares of Franklin BSP Realty Trust to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Citigroup reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Franklin BSP Realty Trust in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $15.50.

Franklin BSP Realty Trust Stock Down 0.2 %

The business’s 50 day moving average is $12.81 and its 200 day moving average is $12.82. The company has a market cap of $903.95 million, a P/E ratio of 13.02 and a beta of 1.14. The company has a quick ratio of 90.45, a current ratio of 84.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.42.

Franklin BSP Realty Trust (NYSE:FBRT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The company reported $0.28 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.27 by $0.01. Franklin BSP Realty Trust had a net margin of 45.56% and a return on equity of 8.17%. The firm had revenue of $55.95 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $49.28 million. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Franklin BSP Realty Trust, Inc. will post 1.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Franklin BSP Realty Trust Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st were given a dividend of $0.355 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 31st. This represents a $1.42 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 13.14%. Franklin BSP Realty Trust’s dividend payout ratio is currently 171.08%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. FMR LLC increased 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 purchasing an additional 787 shares in the last quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC raised its position in shares of Franklin BSP Realty Trust by 6.3% in the fourth quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC now owns 20,877 shares of the company’s stock worth $262,000 after acquiring an additional 1,238 shares during the period. Shorepoint Capital Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Franklin BSP Realty Trust by 2.8% during the 4th quarter. Shorepoint Capital Partners LLC now owns 51,400 shares of the company’s stock worth $645,000 after acquiring an additional 1,400 shares in the last quarter. Mutual Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Franklin BSP Realty Trust by 7.7% during the 4th quarter. Mutual Advisors LLC now owns 19,728 shares of the company’s stock valued at $247,000 after acquiring an additional 1,402 shares during the period. Finally, Allworth Financial LP increased its stake in shares of Franklin BSP Realty Trust by 3.2% in the 4th quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 48,183 shares of the company’s stock valued at $599,000 after purchasing an additional 1,501 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 59.87% of the company’s stock.

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).