Franklin BSP Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:FBRT) Shares Sold by Franklin Resources Inc.

Franklin Resources Inc. trimmed its stake in Franklin BSP Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:FBRT - Free Report) by 20.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,500,543 shares of the company's stock after selling 382,770 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. owned approximately 1.83% of Franklin BSP Realty Trust worth $18,817,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. FMR LLC boosted its stake in shares of Franklin BSP Realty Trust by 42.9% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,623 shares of the company's stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 787 shares during the period. Costello Asset Management INC bought a new stake in Franklin BSP Realty Trust in the fourth quarter worth about $58,000. Longboard Asset Management LP bought a new stake in Franklin BSP Realty Trust in the fourth quarter worth about $174,000. Hodges Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Franklin BSP Realty Trust during the third quarter valued at approximately $189,000. Finally, KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS purchased a new stake in shares of Franklin BSP Realty Trust in the fourth quarter worth approximately $194,000. 59.87% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have commented on FBRT. Citigroup reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of Franklin BSP Realty Trust in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. Jones Trading restated a "buy" rating and issued a $15.00 price target on shares of Franklin BSP Realty Trust in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Finally, B. Riley upgraded shares of Franklin BSP Realty Trust to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $15.50.

Franklin BSP Realty Trust Stock Down 0.2 %

Shares of Franklin BSP Realty Trust stock traded down $0.02 during trading on Friday, hitting $10.81. 783,310 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 368,944. The company has a current ratio of 84.89, a quick ratio of 90.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.42. The firm has a market cap of $903.95 million, a P/E ratio of 13.02 and a beta of 1.14. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $12.81 and its 200 day simple moving average is $12.82. Franklin BSP Realty Trust, Inc. has a 52-week low of $10.50 and a 52-week high of $14.12.

Franklin BSP Realty Trust (NYSE:FBRT - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The company reported $0.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.27 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $55.95 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $49.28 million. Franklin BSP Realty Trust had a net margin of 45.56% and a return on equity of 8.17%. On average, equities analysts predict 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 business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st were given a $0.355 dividend. This represents a $1.42 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 13.14%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 31st. Franklin BSP Realty Trust's payout ratio is 171.08%.

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).