Keefe, Bruyette & Woods Issues Pessimistic Forecast for Blackstone Mortgage Trust (NYSE:BXMT) Stock Price

Key Points

• Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered Blackstone Mortgage Trust’s price target from $13 to $12 while maintaining a “market perform” rating, implying roughly 10.7% upside from the previous close.
• Analyst sentiment remains mixed: BXMT’s consensus rating is “Hold,” with four Buy, four Hold and one Sell rating, and an average price target of $18.40.
• Shares closed at $10.84 after a 0.2% decline. Although quarterly EPS of $0.38 beat the $0.24 consensus estimate, revenue fell short, underscoring ongoing pressure in the commercial real estate loan portfolio.

Blackstone Mortgage Trust (NYSE:BXMT - Get Free Report) had its price objective reduced by Keefe, Bruyette & Woods from $13.00 to $12.00 in a report issued on Friday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a "market perform" rating on the real estate investment trust's stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods's target price would indicate a potential upside of 10.66% from the stock's previous close.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports on BXMT. Raymond James Financial cut Blackstone Mortgage Trust from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 6th. Citigroup reaffirmed a "market perform" rating on shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust in a research note on Tuesday, August 25th. Zacks Research raised Blackstone Mortgage Trust from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, October 5th. Wall Street Zen cut Blackstone Mortgage Trust from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Saturday, August 1st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on Blackstone Mortgage Trust from $19.00 to $18.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $18.40.

Blackstone Mortgage Trust Stock Down 0.2%

NYSE:BXMT traded down $0.03 on Friday, hitting $10.84. The stock had a trading volume of 440,932 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,922,403. The stock has a market cap of $1.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 120.53, a PEG ratio of 0.24 and a beta of 0.92. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $12.31 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $16.75. Blackstone Mortgage Trust has a 1-year low of $10.11 and a 1-year high of $20.67.

Blackstone Mortgage Trust (NYSE:BXMT - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.24 by $0.14. The business had revenue of $141.90 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $148.60 million. Blackstone Mortgage Trust had a net margin of 1.57% and a return on equity of 7.72%. As a group, analysts anticipate that Blackstone Mortgage Trust will post 0.91 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Henry Nassau purchased 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 4th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $14.34 per share, for a total transaction of $143,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 218,523 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,133,619.82. This represents a 4.80% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Insiders sold 3,716 shares of company stock worth $46,815 in the last 90 days. 1.18% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Blackstone Mortgage Trust

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Bank of America Corp DE grew its stake in Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 21.9% during the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 1,297,062 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $24,839,000 after purchasing an additional 233,357 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new stake in Blackstone Mortgage Trust in the 2nd quarter valued at about $18,109,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its position in Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 2.6% in the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 770,901 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $14,763,000 after purchasing an additional 19,423 shares in the last quarter. Dupree Financial Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 85.1% in the 3rd quarter. Dupree Financial Group LLC now owns 596,835 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $6,834,000 after buying an additional 274,361 shares during the period. Finally, Punch & Associates Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 0.6% in the 1st quarter. Punch & Associates Investment Management Inc. now owns 483,624 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $9,261,000 after buying an additional 2,971 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.15% of the company's stock.

More Blackstone Mortgage Trust News

Here are the key news stories impacting Blackstone Mortgage Trust this week:

• Positive Sentiment: BXMT reported quarterly earnings of approximately $0.38–$0.42 per share, ahead of consensus estimates near $0.24–$0.26 and above the $0.24 reported a year earlier. The earnings beat is the primary factor supporting investor interest. Blackstone Mortgage Trust Beats Q3 Earnings Estimates
• Positive Sentiment: Management’s reported reduction of older office-loan exposure may reassure investors that BXMT is actively addressing troubled commercial real estate assets and reducing future credit risk. Blackstone Mortgage Trust Reports Loss as It Cuts Older Office Loans
• Neutral Sentiment: Third-quarter revenue was $141.9 million, below the $148.6 million analyst consensus. Profitability metrics included a 7.72% return on equity and a 1.57% net margin, providing a mixed operating picture. Blackstone Mortgage Trust Third-Quarter Results
• Negative Sentiment: BXMT recorded an unexpected third-quarter net loss of $327.6 million, highlighting continuing stress in its commercial real estate loan portfolio and offsetting some of the adjusted earnings strength. Blackstone Mortgage Trust Reports Unexpected Q3 Net Loss
• Negative Sentiment: The quarterly dividend was cut to $0.30 per share from $0.47, a reduction of roughly 36%, despite an annualized yield of about 11%. The lower payout may pressure income-oriented investors and signals management’s caution about cash generation and credit losses. Blackstone Mortgage Trust Dividend Announcement

About Blackstone Mortgage Trust

Blackstone Mortgage Trust, Inc is a real estate investment trust that originates and manages senior loans secured by commercial properties. The company primarily provides floating-rate mortgage financing to owners and sponsors of institutional-quality real estate, earning income from interest and other fees associated with its lending activities.

Its loan portfolio has historically included properties across sectors such as office, multifamily, hotel, industrial, retail and life sciences.

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