Christen E.J. Lee Buys 10,000 Shares of KKR Real Estate Finance Trust (NYSE:KREF) Stock

KKR Real Estate Finance Trust (NYSE:KREF) Director Christen E.J. Lee purchased 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, November 7th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $7.80 per share, for a total transaction of $78,000.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 229,133 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,787,237.40. This represents a 4.56% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link.

KKR Real Estate Finance Trust Trading Up 3.4%

NYSE KREF opened at $8.14 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 423.43, a quick ratio of 423.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.63. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $8.96 and its 200-day moving average price is $9.10. KKR Real Estate Finance Trust has a 12 month low of $7.78 and a 12 month high of $12.06. The stock has a market cap of $532.83 million, a P/E ratio of -23.25 and a beta of 0.90.

KKR Real Estate Finance Trust (NYSE:KREF) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 21st. The company reported ($0.03) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.01 by ($0.04). The business had revenue of $31.41 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $29.90 million. KKR Real Estate Finance Trust had a negative return on equity of 0.60% and a negative net margin of 0.12%. As a group, equities analysts forecast that KKR Real Estate Finance Trust will post 1.05 EPS for the current fiscal year.

KKR Real Estate Finance Trust Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, October 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 30th were paid a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 12.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 30th. KKR Real Estate Finance Trust’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -285.71%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

KREF has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of KKR Real Estate Finance Trust from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, September 5th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered their price target on shares of KKR Real Estate Finance Trust from $9.50 to $8.75 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 23rd. Zacks Research upgraded KKR Real Estate Finance Trust from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, September 29th. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d)” rating on shares of KKR Real Estate Finance Trust in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $9.00 target price (down previously from $9.50) on shares of KKR Real Estate Finance Trust in a research report on Monday, October 20th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $9.94.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Quarry LP acquired a new position in KKR Real Estate Finance Trust in the first quarter worth $28,000. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. lifted its holdings in KKR Real Estate Finance Trust by 100.0% during the second quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 3,450 shares of the company’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 1,725 shares in the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in KKR Real Estate Finance Trust by 742.0% during the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 4,151 shares of the company’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 3,658 shares in the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP raised its holdings in shares of KKR Real Estate Finance Trust by 3,904.6% in the second quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 4,365 shares of the company’s stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 4,256 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cloud Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of KKR Real Estate Finance Trust in the third quarter valued at about $48,000. 70.23% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.