Vestcor Inc Sells 2,471 Shares of Franklin BSP Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:FBRT)

Vestcor Inc lessened its stake in shares of Franklin BSP Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:FBRT) by 7.9% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 28,849 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,471 shares during the quarter. Vestcor Inc’s holdings in Franklin BSP Realty Trust were worth $362,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also bought and sold shares of FBRT. Moors & Cabot Inc. increased its position in Franklin BSP Realty Trust by 22.4% in the 4th quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. now owns 20,958 shares of the company’s stock valued at $263,000 after buying an additional 3,841 shares in the last quarter. Amundi increased its holdings in shares of Franklin BSP Realty Trust by 174.5% during the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 39,545 shares of the company’s stock valued at $488,000 after acquiring an additional 25,139 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Franklin BSP Realty Trust during the fourth quarter worth approximately $859,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Franklin BSP Realty Trust by 13.3% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,162,977 shares of the company’s stock worth $14,584,000 after purchasing an additional 136,687 shares during the period. Finally, GraniteShares Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Franklin BSP Realty Trust in the 4th quarter valued at $2,475,000. 59.87% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Franklin BSP Realty Trust Price Performance

FBRT opened at $13.31 on Tuesday. Franklin BSP Realty Trust, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $11.96 and a fifty-two week high of $14.12. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $12.89 and a 200 day moving average of $12.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.42, a quick ratio of 90.45 and a current ratio of 84.89. The firm has a market cap of $1.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.03 and a beta of 1.37.

Franklin BSP Realty Trust (NYSE:FBRT) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The company reported $0.28 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.27 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $55.95 million during 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, research analysts expect that Franklin BSP Realty Trust, Inc. will post 1.41 EPS for the current year.

Franklin BSP Realty Trust Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be paid a $0.355 dividend. This represents a $1.42 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 10.67%. Franklin BSP Realty Trust’s payout ratio is presently 171.08%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the stock. B. Riley raised shares of Franklin BSP Realty Trust to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Janney Montgomery Scott assumed coverage on Franklin BSP Realty Trust in a report on Thursday, December 12th. They set a “buy” rating and a $16.00 price objective for the company. Citigroup restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Franklin BSP Realty Trust in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. Finally, Jones Trading reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $15.00 price target on shares of Franklin BSP Realty Trust in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $15.50.

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).