KKR Real Estate Finance Trust Inc. (NYSE:KREF) Given Average Rating of "Buy" by Analysts

KKR Real Estate Finance Trust Inc. (NYSE:KREF - Get Free Report) has received a consensus rating of "Buy" from the six research firms that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating. The average 1 year target price among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $12.75.

Several research firms recently issued reports on KREF. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised shares of KKR Real Estate Finance Trust from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and upped their price target for the company from $11.50 to $13.00 in a report on Thursday, September 5th. Raymond James cut their target price on shares of KKR Real Estate Finance Trust from $14.00 to $13.50 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. JMP Securities lifted their price target on KKR Real Estate Finance Trust from $12.50 to $13.00 and gave the stock a "market outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on KKR Real Estate Finance Trust from $12.00 to $11.50 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Monday, December 9th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on KKR Real Estate Finance Trust from $13.00 to $14.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, September 20th.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company boosted its stake in KKR Real Estate Finance Trust by 2.5% during the 2nd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 38,542 shares of the company's stock valued at $349,000 after purchasing an additional 935 shares during the period. Future Financial Wealth Managment LLC bought a new stake in shares of KKR Real Estate Finance Trust during the third quarter valued at approximately $25,000. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. boosted its position in shares of KKR Real Estate Finance Trust by 24.6% during the third quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. now owns 12,885 shares of the company's stock worth $159,000 after buying an additional 2,546 shares during the period. Creative Planning grew its holdings in KKR Real Estate Finance Trust by 37.0% in the 3rd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 21,524 shares of the company's stock worth $266,000 after buying an additional 5,809 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Algert Global LLC increased its position in KKR Real Estate Finance Trust by 7.2% in the 2nd quarter. Algert Global LLC now owns 88,193 shares of the company's stock valued at $798,000 after acquiring an additional 5,933 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.23% of the company's stock.

KKR Real Estate Finance Trust Stock Down 1.2 %

Shares of NYSE:KREF traded down $0.12 during trading on Friday, hitting $10.28. The company's stock had a trading volume of 496,380 shares, compared to its average volume of 524,179. The company has a market capitalization of $715.21 million, a PE ratio of -34.27 and a beta of 0.98. KKR Real Estate Finance Trust has a fifty-two week low of $8.71 and a fifty-two week high of $13.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.75, a quick ratio of 277.63 and a current ratio of 277.63. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $11.40 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $11.15.

KKR Real Estate Finance Trust (NYSE:KREF - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, October 21st. The company reported $0.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.34 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $140.15 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $39.52 million. KKR Real Estate Finance Trust had a return on equity of 9.46% and a net margin of 0.40%. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.47 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that KKR Real Estate Finance Trust will post 1.4 EPS for the current year.

KKR Real Estate Finance Trust Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be issued a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 31st. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 9.73%. KKR Real Estate Finance Trust's dividend payout ratio is currently -333.33%.

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.