Franklin BSP Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:FBRT) Short Interest Up 7.0% in December

Franklin BSP Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:FBRT) was the target of a significant increase in short interest in the month of December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 1,830,000 shares, an increase of 7.0% from the December 15th total of 1,710,000 shares. Currently, 2.3% of the shares of the company are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 357,300 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 5.1 days.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Franklin BSP Realty Trust

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. FMR LLC increased its stake in Franklin BSP Realty Trust by 42.9% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,623 shares of the company’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 787 shares during the last quarter. Fairscale Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Franklin BSP Realty Trust during the second quarter worth about $41,000. KBC Group NV lifted its holdings in Franklin BSP Realty Trust by 51.6% in the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 4,664 shares of the company’s stock worth $61,000 after acquiring an additional 1,588 shares during the last quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Franklin BSP Realty Trust in the third quarter valued at approximately $168,000. Finally, Hodges Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Franklin BSP Realty Trust during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $189,000. 59.87% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have commented on FBRT shares. B. Riley upgraded Franklin BSP Realty Trust to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Janney Montgomery Scott assumed coverage on shares of Franklin BSP Realty Trust in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $16.00 price objective on the stock. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $15.50.

Franklin BSP Realty Trust Stock Up 0.9 %

NYSE:FBRT traded up $0.11 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $12.65. The company had a trading volume of 419,196 shares, compared to its average volume of 427,209. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $12.78 and a 200-day simple moving average of $12.98. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.43 and a beta of 1.39. Franklin BSP Realty Trust has a 1 year low of $11.96 and a 1 year high of $14.11. The company has a current ratio of 90.45, a quick ratio of 90.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.67.

Franklin BSP Realty Trust Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 10th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 31st were paid a $0.355 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 31st. This represents a $1.42 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 11.22%. Franklin BSP Realty Trust’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 173.17%.

About Franklin BSP Realty Trust

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).