Blackstone Mortgage Trust (NYSE:BXMT) Announces Quarterly Earnings Results, Misses Estimates By $0.17 EPS

Key Points

• Blackstone Mortgage Trust missed EPS at $0.21 versus the $0.38 consensus (a $0.17 shortfall) even as revenue beat expectations; distributable earnings were $0.49 and the company paid a $0.47 dividend (covering the payout for a third consecutive quarter) with a current yield near 9.9%.
• Credit and valuation pressures persist: management recorded two loan impairments, added two office loans to a watch list, took a roughly $55 million CECL provision, and book value fell to $20.20 per share, while the stock traded down about 4.9% on the news.
• Management highlighted strengthened liquidity and deployment activity, citing about $1 billion of cash, a reduced debt-to-equity ratio (3.7x), a $1 billion reinvesting CLO and new securitizations, plus $540 million of recent investments (including its first data-center loan) and a pipeline north of $1 billion.

Blackstone Mortgage Trust (NYSE:BXMT - Get Free Report) released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday. The real estate investment trust reported $0.21 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.38 by ($0.17), FiscalAI reports. Blackstone Mortgage Trust had a return on equity of 4.44% and a net margin of 8.08%.The company had revenue of $159.42 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $121.37 million.

Here are the key takeaways from Blackstone Mortgage Trust's conference call:

• Reported distributable earnings prior to realized gains and losses of $0.49 per share and paid a $0.47 dividend, marking the third consecutive quarter where distributable earnings covered the dividend.
• Closed $540 million of new investments including BXMT's first data center loan, a GBP 50 million U.K. bank loan portfolio, and $197 million of net-lease acquisitions, with a pipeline north of $1 billion into Q2.
• Strengthened funding and liquidity with $1 billion of cash, a reduced debt-to-equity ratio (3.7x), a repriced ~$700 million corporate loan (−50bps), a $1 billion reinvesting CLO and an inaugural net-lease securitization, and ~86% of debt on non‑mark‑to‑market terms.
• Underlying portfolio cash flow remained robust: over $600 million of repayments (more than half from U.S. office), a 98% performing loan book, and management says resolutions and redeployments are driving earnings that support an approximate 9.5% current yield.
• Credit and valuation headwinds persist as the company booked two loan impairments, added two office loans to its watch list, took a ~$55 million CECL provision this quarter, and saw book value decline to $20.20 per share (−2.7%).

Blackstone Mortgage Trust Trading Down 4.9%

Shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust stock traded down $0.97 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $19.04. The stock had a trading volume of 4,343,777 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,494,369. The stock's 50 day moving average is $19.29 and its 200 day moving average is $19.23. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.21 billion, a PE ratio of 29.29 and a beta of 1.00. Blackstone Mortgage Trust has a twelve month low of $17.67 and a twelve month high of $20.67.

Blackstone Mortgage Trust Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 31st were given a $0.47 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 31st. This represents a $1.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 9.9%. Blackstone Mortgage Trust's dividend payout ratio is 289.23%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

BXMT has been the topic of several recent research reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their price objective on Blackstone Mortgage Trust from $21.00 to $21.50 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 12th. Zacks Research lowered Blackstone Mortgage Trust from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and set a $21.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 16th. Finally, BTIG Research reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $23.00 price objective on shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust in a research report on Tuesday, February 10th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $21.38.

Insider Buying and Selling at Blackstone Mortgage Trust

In other Blackstone Mortgage Trust news, President Fernando Austin Pena sold 1,666 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $18.88, for a total value of $31,454.08. Following the completion of the transaction, the president owned 76,967 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,453,136.96. This represents a 2.12% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 1.02% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of BXMT. Jones Financial Companies Lllp raised its position in shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 45.5% during the 1st quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 1,715 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 536 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC raised its position in shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 7.1% during the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 570,233 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $11,405,000 after purchasing an additional 37,838 shares during the last quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC raised its position in shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 5.0% during the 1st quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 73,679 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $1,474,000 after purchasing an additional 3,478 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its position in shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 28.1% during the 2nd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 630,752 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $12,142,000 after purchasing an additional 138,469 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jump Financial LLC acquired a new position in shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust during the 2nd quarter worth about $226,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.15% of the company's stock.

About Blackstone Mortgage Trust

Blackstone Mortgage Trust, Inc NYSE: BXMT is a publicly traded real estate finance company that originates, acquires and manages commercial mortgage loans and other CRE debt investments. As an externally managed real estate investment trust (REIT), it seeks to generate attractive risk-adjusted returns through the deployment of senior floating-rate and fixed-rate loans backed by income-producing properties.

The firm's core business activities span the origination of senior mortgage loans, the acquisition of loan portfolios and other real estate debt instruments, and the active management of those investments.

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