Balyasny Asset Management L.P. Acquires 454,517 Shares of KKR Real Estate Finance Trust Inc. (NYSE:KREF)

Balyasny Asset Management L.P. raised its holdings in KKR Real Estate Finance Trust Inc. (NYSE:KREF) by 116.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 844,610 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 454,517 shares during the period. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. owned approximately 1.23% of KKR Real Estate Finance Trust worth $8,531,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in KREF. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of KKR Real Estate Finance Trust by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,373,685 shares of the company’s stock valued at $13,878,000 after buying an additional 18,535 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its position in shares of KKR Real Estate Finance Trust by 31.7% during the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 728,875 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,362,000 after acquiring an additional 175,603 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp lifted its position in shares of KKR Real Estate Finance Trust by 21.7% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 690,826 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,977,000 after acquiring an additional 123,312 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP acquired a new stake in shares of KKR Real Estate Finance Trust during the 4th quarter worth $5,350,000. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its position in shares of KKR Real Estate Finance Trust by 2,400.3% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 477,633 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,825,000 after purchasing an additional 458,530 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.23% of the company’s stock.

KKR Real Estate Finance Trust Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:KREF opened at $9.20 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $9.91 and a 200 day simple moving average of $10.63. The company has a market cap of $623.82 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 51.11 and a beta of 0.95. KKR Real Estate Finance Trust Inc. has a one year low of $8.28 and a one year high of $12.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.50, a current ratio of 296.16 and a quick ratio of 296.16.

KKR Real Estate Finance Trust (NYSE:KREF) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 23rd. The company reported ($0.15) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.17 by ($0.32). KKR Real Estate Finance Trust had a net margin of 6.30% and a return on equity of 8.53%. The firm had revenue of $31.34 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $34.77 million. Research analysts predict that KKR Real Estate Finance Trust Inc. will post 1.05 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

KKR Real Estate Finance Trust Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st were issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 10.87%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 31st. KKR Real Estate Finance Trust’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 625.00%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have issued reports on KREF. JMP Securities reduced their price objective on shares of KKR Real Estate Finance Trust from $13.00 to $12.00 and set a “market outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut shares of KKR Real Estate Finance Trust from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and set a $10.75 price objective on the stock. in a research note on Monday, April 7th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on KKR Real Estate Finance Trust from $11.50 to $9.50 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $11.88.

About KKR Real Estate Finance Trust

KKR Real Estate Finance Trust Inc, a mortgage real estate investment trust, focuses primarily on originating and acquiring transitional senior loans secured by commercial real estate (CRE) assets. It engages in the origination and purchase of credit investments related to CRE, including leveraged and unleveraged commercial real estate loans.