Gratia Capital LLC Buys 326,122 Shares of Franklin BSP Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:FBRT)

Gratia Capital LLC lifted its stake in shares of Franklin BSP Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:FBRT) by 110.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 622,622 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 326,122 shares during the quarter. Franklin BSP Realty Trust comprises approximately 7.7% of Gratia Capital LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 3rd biggest position. Gratia Capital LLC owned about 0.76% of Franklin BSP Realty Trust worth $7,808,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of FBRT. Quarry LP acquired a new stake in shares of Franklin BSP Realty Trust in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Costello Asset Management INC purchased a new stake in shares of Franklin BSP Realty Trust during the 4th quarter worth $58,000. LaSalle St. Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Franklin BSP Realty Trust in the 4th quarter valued at about $133,000. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Franklin BSP Realty Trust in the fourth quarter valued at about $147,000. Finally, Stifel Financial Corp purchased a new stake in Franklin BSP Realty Trust during the fourth quarter worth about $148,000. 59.87% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Franklin BSP Realty Trust Price Performance

FBRT stock opened at $11.64 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $12.48 and its 200 day moving average price is $12.71. The firm has a market cap of $973.12 million, a P/E ratio of 14.02 and a beta of 1.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.42, a quick ratio of 90.45 and a current ratio of 84.89. Franklin BSP Realty Trust, Inc. has a 1 year low of $10.50 and a 1 year high of $14.12.

Franklin BSP Realty Trust (NYSE:FBRT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The company reported $0.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.27 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $55.95 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $49.28 million. Franklin BSP Realty Trust had a return on equity of 8.17% and a net margin of 45.56%. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Franklin BSP Realty Trust, Inc. will post 1.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Franklin BSP Realty Trust Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st were paid a dividend of $0.355 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 31st. This represents a $1.42 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 12.20%. Franklin BSP Realty Trust’s dividend payout ratio is currently 171.08%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have issued reports on FBRT. Jones Trading reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $15.00 target price on shares of Franklin BSP Realty Trust in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Citigroup reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Franklin BSP Realty Trust in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. Finally, B. Riley upgraded Franklin BSP Realty Trust to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Franklin BSP Realty Trust presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average 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).