Balyasny Asset Management L.P. Purchases 165,981 Shares of Franklin BSP Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:FBRT)

Balyasny Asset Management L.P. boosted its position in shares of Franklin BSP Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:FBRT - Free Report) by 84.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 362,451 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 165,981 shares during the period. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. owned 0.44% of Franklin BSP Realty Trust worth $4,545,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in FBRT. Barclays PLC raised its stake in Franklin BSP Realty Trust by 22.0% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 136,534 shares of the company's stock worth $1,784,000 after acquiring an additional 24,633 shares during the period. Strong Tower Advisory Services grew its holdings in Franklin BSP Realty Trust by 9.7% during the 4th quarter. Strong Tower Advisory Services now owns 1,157,111 shares of the company's stock valued at $14,510,000 after buying an additional 101,951 shares in the last quarter. Mutual Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Franklin BSP Realty Trust by 7.7% in the fourth quarter. Mutual Advisors LLC now owns 19,728 shares of the company's stock valued at $247,000 after purchasing an additional 1,402 shares in the last quarter. Costello Asset Management INC purchased a new position in shares of Franklin BSP Realty Trust in the fourth quarter valued at $58,000. Finally, Hodges Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Franklin BSP Realty Trust by 49.8% in the fourth quarter. Hodges Capital Management Inc. now owns 21,692 shares of the company's stock valued at $272,000 after purchasing an additional 7,216 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 59.87% of the company's stock.

Franklin BSP Realty Trust Trading Down 1.4%

Shares of NYSE:FBRT traded down $0.16 on Wednesday, hitting $11.40. 501,084 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 380,234. Franklin BSP Realty Trust, Inc. has a 12 month low of $10.50 and a 12 month high of $14.12. The stock has a market capitalization of $937.25 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.73 and a beta of 1.07. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $12.03 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $12.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.42, a current ratio of 84.89 and a quick ratio of 90.45.

Franklin BSP Realty Trust (NYSE:FBRT - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The company reported $0.28 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 return on equity of 8.17% and a net margin of 45.56%. Analysts anticipate that Franklin BSP Realty Trust, Inc. will post 1.41 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Franklin BSP Realty Trust Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 10th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st were issued a $0.355 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 31st. This represents a $1.42 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 12.46%. Franklin BSP Realty Trust's payout ratio is currently 208.82%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently weighed in on FBRT. Jones Trading cut their target price on shares of Franklin BSP Realty Trust from $15.00 to $14.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 29th. Citigroup reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of Franklin BSP Realty Trust in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. Finally, JMP Securities reissued a "market outperform" rating and issued a $15.00 target price on shares of Franklin BSP Realty Trust in a report on Tuesday, April 29th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Franklin BSP Realty Trust has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $15.30.

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).