KKR Real Estate Finance Trust Inc. (NYSE:KREF) Given Average Recommendation of "Moderate Buy" by Brokerages

KKR Real Estate Finance Trust Inc. (NYSE:KREF - Get Free Report) has been given an average rating of "Moderate Buy" by the six research firms that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold recommendation and five have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price target among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $12.21.

KREF has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered shares of KKR Real Estate Finance Trust from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating and set a $10.75 price objective on the stock. in a research note on Monday, April 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on KKR Real Estate Finance Trust from $11.50 to $10.50 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st.

KKR Real Estate Finance Trust Stock Down 1.4 %

NYSE KREF traded down $0.13 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $8.62. 861,089 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 495,877. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.50, a quick ratio of 296.16 and a current ratio of 296.16. The business's 50-day moving average is $10.71 and its 200-day moving average is $11.00. The stock has a market capitalization of $591.97 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 47.86 and a beta of 0.88. KKR Real Estate Finance Trust has a twelve month low of $8.28 and a twelve month high of $12.95.

KKR Real Estate Finance Trust (NYSE:KREF - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Monday, February 3rd. The company reported $0.28 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.08 by $0.20. KKR Real Estate Finance Trust had a net margin of 6.30% and a return on equity of 8.53%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that KKR Real Estate Finance Trust will post 1.05 earnings per share for the current year.

KKR Real Estate Finance Trust Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st will be paid a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 11.61%. KKR Real Estate Finance Trust's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 555.56%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On KKR Real Estate Finance Trust

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of KKR Real Estate Finance Trust by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,373,685 shares of the company's stock valued at $13,878,000 after acquiring an additional 18,535 shares in the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. boosted its holdings in KKR Real Estate Finance Trust by 10.1% in the 4th quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 1,045,773 shares of the company's stock valued at $10,562,000 after purchasing an additional 95,540 shares during the period. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. grew its position in shares of KKR Real Estate Finance Trust by 116.5% during the 4th quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 844,610 shares of the company's stock worth $8,531,000 after purchasing an additional 454,517 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its holdings in shares of KKR Real Estate Finance Trust by 31.7% during the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 728,875 shares of the company's stock worth $7,362,000 after purchasing an additional 175,603 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp raised its position in shares of KKR Real Estate Finance Trust by 21.7% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 690,826 shares of the company's stock valued at $6,977,000 after buying an additional 123,312 shares in the last quarter. 70.23% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.