Blackstone Mortgage Trust (NYSE:BXMT) Sets New 1-Year Low – What’s Next?

Shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust, Inc. (NYSE:BXMT) reached a new 52-week low on Wednesday . The stock traded as low as $14.10 and last traded at $14.15, with a volume of 401017 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $14.42.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. UBS Group started coverage on shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust in a report on Tuesday, June 2nd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $21.00 target price for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on Blackstone Mortgage Trust from $19.00 to $18.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, July 31st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reiterated a “market perform” rating and set a $16.00 price target (down from $20.00) on shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Wall Street Zen cut Blackstone Mortgage Trust from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday. Finally, Zacks Research cut shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $19.20.

Blackstone Mortgage Trust Trading Down 2.5%

The stock has a market cap of $2.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 156.39 and a beta of 0.91. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $17.30 and its two-hundred day moving average is $18.52.

Blackstone Mortgage Trust (NYSE:BXMT) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.41 by ($0.10). Blackstone Mortgage Trust had a return on equity of 7.72% and a net margin of 1.57%.The firm had revenue of $158.06 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $157.32 million. As a group, equities analysts expect that Blackstone Mortgage Trust, Inc. will post 1.21 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Mortgage Trust Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 30th were issued a dividend of $0.47 per share. This represents a $1.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 13.4%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, June 30th. Blackstone Mortgage Trust’s dividend payout ratio is presently 2,088.89%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Blackstone Mortgage Trust news, President Fernando Austin Pena sold 2,398 shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $17.48, for a total value of $41,917.04. Following the transaction, the president owned 74,569 shares in the company, valued at $1,303,466.12. This trade represents a 3.12% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Insiders have sold a total of 5,420 shares of company stock worth $95,233 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 1.18% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Blackstone Mortgage Trust

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Northside Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust in the 2nd quarter valued at $28,000. Jones Financial Companies Lllp raised its holdings in Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 45.5% in the first quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 1,715 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 536 shares in the last quarter. Ascentis Independent Advisors acquired a new stake in shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust in the 1st quarter valued at about $41,000. UMB Bank n.a. raised its stake in Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 151.1% during the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 2,172 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $42,000 after buying an additional 1,307 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Advisory Services Network LLC bought a new position in Blackstone Mortgage Trust during the third quarter worth $46,000. 64.15% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Blackstone Mortgage Trust

Blackstone Mortgage Trust, Inc (NYSE: BXMT) is a publicly traded real estate finance company that originates, acquires and manages commercial mortgage loans and other CRE debt investments. As an externally managed real estate investment trust (REIT), it seeks to generate attractive risk-adjusted returns through the deployment of senior floating-rate and fixed-rate loans backed by income-producing properties.

The firm’s core business activities span the origination of senior mortgage loans, the acquisition of loan portfolios and other real estate debt instruments, and the active management of those investments.