KKR Real Estate Finance Trust Inc. (NYSE:KREF) Short Interest Up 18.3% in December

KKR Real Estate Finance Trust Inc. (NYSE:KREF - Get Free Report) was the recipient of a significant growth in short interest in December. As of December 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,420,000 shares, a growth of 18.3% from the November 30th total of 1,200,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 453,700 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 3.1 days.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have weighed in on KREF. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on KKR Real Estate Finance Trust from $13.00 to $14.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on KKR Real Estate Finance Trust from $12.00 to $11.50 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Raymond James dropped their price objective on KKR Real Estate Finance Trust from $14.00 to $13.50 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. JMP Securities boosted their target price on shares of KKR Real Estate Finance Trust from $12.50 to $13.00 and gave the company a "market outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised shares of KKR Real Estate Finance Trust from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and upped their target price for the stock from $11.50 to $13.00 in a report on Thursday, September 5th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $12.75.

KKR Real Estate Finance Trust Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:KREF traded down $0.14 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $10.14. The company's stock had a trading volume of 467,675 shares, compared to its average volume of 523,954. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $11.40 and its 200-day simple moving average is $11.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.75, a current ratio of 277.63 and a quick ratio of 277.63. KKR Real Estate Finance Trust has a fifty-two week low of $8.71 and a fifty-two week high of $13.33. The company has a market capitalization of $705.47 million, a P/E ratio of -33.80 and a beta of 0.98.

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 for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.34 by $0.03. KKR Real Estate Finance Trust had a net margin of 0.40% and a return on equity of 9.46%. The firm had revenue of $140.15 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $39.52 million. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.47 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that KKR Real Estate Finance Trust will post 1.4 EPS for the current fiscal year.

KKR Real Estate Finance Trust Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be given 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 9.86%. KKR Real Estate Finance Trust's payout ratio is -333.33%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On KKR Real Estate Finance Trust

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Future Financial Wealth Managment LLC acquired a new stake in shares of KKR Real Estate Finance Trust during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $25,000. Abel Hall LLC bought a new position in KKR Real Estate Finance Trust in the third quarter valued at approximately $138,000. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. grew its holdings in KKR Real Estate Finance Trust by 24.6% during the 3rd quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. now owns 12,885 shares of the company's stock worth $159,000 after acquiring an additional 2,546 shares during the period. Intech Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of KKR Real Estate Finance Trust during the 3rd quarter valued at $197,000. Finally, Creative Planning lifted its stake in shares of KKR Real Estate Finance Trust by 37.0% in the 3rd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 21,524 shares of the company's stock valued at $266,000 after purchasing an additional 5,809 shares during the period. 70.23% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

KKR Real Estate Finance Trust Company Profile

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.