Franklin BSP Realty Trust (NYSE:FBRT) Hits New 1-Year Low – Time to Sell?

Franklin BSP Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:FBRT) shares hit a new 52-week low during trading on Friday . The company traded as low as $11.83 and last traded at $11.84, with a volume of 437674 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $12.45.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have issued reports on FBRT. Janney Montgomery Scott assumed coverage on shares of Franklin BSP Realty Trust in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. They set a “buy” rating and a $16.00 target price for the company. B. Riley upgraded Franklin BSP Realty Trust to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Jones Trading restated a “buy” rating and issued a $15.00 target price on shares of Franklin BSP Realty Trust in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. Finally, Citigroup reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Franklin BSP Realty Trust in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Franklin BSP Realty Trust presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $15.50.

Franklin BSP Realty Trust Trading Down 4.2 %

The company has a market capitalization of $980.41 million, a P/E ratio of 14.37 and a beta of 1.14. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $13.02 and a 200 day simple moving average of $12.93. 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 (NYSE:FBRT) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The company reported $0.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.27 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $55.95 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $49.28 million. Franklin BSP Realty Trust had a net margin of 45.56% and a return on equity of 8.17%. Sell-side analysts expect that Franklin BSP Realty Trust, Inc. will post 1.41 earnings per share for the current year.

Franklin BSP Realty Trust Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 10th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st will be given a dividend of $0.355 per share. This represents a $1.42 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 11.91%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. Franklin BSP Realty Trust’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 171.08%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Franklin BSP Realty Trust

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division bought a new stake in shares of Franklin BSP Realty Trust during the first quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Quarry LP acquired a new stake in Franklin BSP Realty Trust during the fourth quarter worth $32,000. FMR LLC increased its holdings in Franklin BSP Realty Trust by 42.9% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,623 shares of the company’s stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 787 shares during the period. Costello Asset Management INC acquired a new position in shares of Franklin BSP Realty Trust in the 4th quarter valued at $58,000. Finally, LaSalle St. Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Franklin BSP Realty Trust during the 4th quarter worth about $133,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 59.87% of the company’s stock.

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).