Moors & Cabot Inc. Sells 8,834 Shares of Franklin BSP Realty Trust, Inc. $FBRT

Moors & Cabot Inc. lowered its stake in shares of Franklin BSP Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:FBRT) by 35.6% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 15,955 shares of the company’s stock after selling 8,834 shares during the period. Moors & Cabot Inc.’s holdings in Franklin BSP Realty Trust were worth $171,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in FBRT. Teacher Retirement System of Texas bought a new stake in shares of Franklin BSP Realty Trust during the 1st quarter valued at $152,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in Franklin BSP Realty Trust by 4.2% during the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 413,595 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,269,000 after buying an additional 16,707 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its position in shares of Franklin BSP Realty Trust by 24.2% during the first quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 714,485 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,103,000 after buying an additional 139,417 shares during the period. Apollon Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of Franklin BSP Realty Trust by 5.8% during the first quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC now owns 27,237 shares of the company’s stock valued at $347,000 after buying an additional 1,496 shares during the period. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Franklin BSP Realty Trust by 477.7% in the first quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 83,357 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,062,000 after buying an additional 68,929 shares in the last quarter. 59.87% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Franklin BSP Realty Trust Stock Down 0.8%

FBRT stock opened at $9.91 on Monday. The company’s 50 day moving average is $10.94 and its 200 day moving average is $10.97. The stock has a market cap of $808.32 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.38 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a current ratio of 81.24, a quick ratio of 81.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.21. Franklin BSP Realty Trust, Inc. has a 1-year low of $9.79 and a 1-year high of $13.58.

Franklin BSP Realty Trust Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 10th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 30th were issued a $0.355 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 30th. This represents a $1.42 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 14.3%. Franklin BSP Realty Trust’s dividend payout ratio is presently 177.50%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently commented on FBRT. Jones Trading reduced their price objective on shares of Franklin BSP Realty Trust from $14.00 to $13.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, August 6th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Franklin BSP Realty Trust in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. One 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. According to MarketBeat.com, Franklin BSP Realty Trust presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus 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).