Strong Tower Advisory Services Acquires 63,138 Shares of Franklin BSP Realty Trust, Inc. $FBRT

Strong Tower Advisory Services lifted its position in Franklin BSP Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:FBRT) by 4.7% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,408,626 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 63,138 shares during the period. Franklin BSP Realty Trust accounts for approximately 3.0% of Strong Tower Advisory Services’ investment portfolio, making the stock its 8th biggest holding. Strong Tower Advisory Services owned about 1.71% of Franklin BSP Realty Trust worth $15,058,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in FBRT. AlphaQuest LLC acquired a new position in shares of Franklin BSP Realty Trust in the 1st quarter valued at $32,000. Tortoise Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Franklin BSP Realty Trust in the 1st quarter valued at $39,000. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division increased its position in shares of Franklin BSP Realty Trust by 100.0% in the 2nd quarter. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division now owns 5,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $53,000 after acquiring an additional 2,500 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in shares of Franklin BSP Realty Trust by 1,683.5% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 4,637 shares of the company’s stock valued at $59,000 after acquiring an additional 4,377 shares during the period. Finally, PNC Financial Services Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Franklin BSP Realty Trust by 138.1% in the 1st quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 5,044 shares of the company’s stock valued at $64,000 after acquiring an additional 2,926 shares during the period. 59.87% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Franklin BSP Realty Trust Price Performance

Shares of FBRT opened at $10.59 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $11.17 and its two-hundred day moving average is $11.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.21, a quick ratio of 81.24 and a current ratio of 81.24. Franklin BSP Realty Trust, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $9.79 and a fifty-two week high of $13.58. The company has a market capitalization of $871.29 million, a P/E ratio of 10.81 and a beta of 1.03.

Franklin BSP Realty Trust Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 10th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 30th were paid a dividend of $0.355 per share. This represents a $1.42 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 13.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 30th. Franklin BSP Realty Trust’s dividend payout ratio is presently 144.90%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

FBRT has been the topic of several research reports. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Franklin BSP Realty Trust in a research report on Wednesday. Jones Trading cut their price target on Franklin BSP Realty Trust from $14.00 to $13.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, August 6th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have given a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $14.67.

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).