Blackstone Mortgage Trust, Inc. (NYSE:BXMT) Stock Has Average Target Price of $17.00

Key Points

• Analysts have a consensus “Hold” rating on BXMT, with four buys, four holds and one sell; the average 12-month price target is $17.00.
• BXMT reported quarterly EPS of $0.38, beating the $0.24 consensus, but revenue of $141.9 million fell short of estimates. The company cut its quarterly dividend from $0.47 to $0.30 per share.
• CEO Timothy Johnson and Director Henry Nassau bought shares worth about $1.15 million combined in November, increasing their holdings.

Blackstone Mortgage Trust, Inc. (NYSE:BXMT - Get Free Report) has earned a consensus recommendation of "Hold" from the nine analysts that are covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, four have given a hold recommendation and four have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price objective among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $17.00.

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on BXMT. Citigroup reaffirmed a "market perform" rating on shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust in a research report on Tuesday, August 25th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "sell (d)" rating on shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust in a research report on Thursday, October 29th. Wall Street Zen raised Blackstone Mortgage Trust from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, November 7th. UBS Group dropped their price target on Blackstone Mortgage Trust from $21.00 to $14.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, November 3rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on Blackstone Mortgage Trust from $19.00 to $18.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, July 31st.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Henry N. Nassau purchased 10,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 4th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $11.43 per share, for a total transaction of $114,300.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director directly owned 233,490 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,668,790.70. The trade was a 4.47% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Timothy Johnson purchased 90,000 shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 4th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $11.50 per share, with a total value of $1,035,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 617,900 shares in the company, valued at $7,105,850. This represents a 17.05% increase in their position. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 3,716 shares of company stock valued at $46,815. Corporate insiders own 1.18% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Blackstone Mortgage Trust

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in BXMT. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC purchased a new position in Blackstone Mortgage Trust during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $39,000. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division lifted its holdings in shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 50.0% in the third quarter. Central Pacific Bank Trust Division now owns 3,000 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 1,000 shares in the last quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. boosted its position in shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 66.6% in the third quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 4,116 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $47,000 after buying an additional 1,645 shares during the period. Fulcrum Asset Management LLP boosted its position in shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 193.1% in the third quarter. Fulcrum Asset Management LLP now owns 4,894 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $60,000 after buying an additional 3,224 shares during the period. Finally, Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio acquired a new stake in shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust in the second quarter worth $84,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.15% of the company's stock.

Blackstone Mortgage Trust Stock Performance

NYSE BXMT opened at $11.01 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.83 billion, a P/E ratio of -4.93, a P/E/G ratio of 0.47 and a beta of 0.90. Blackstone Mortgage Trust has a 1 year low of $10.11 and a 1 year high of $20.67. The business's fifty day moving average is $11.81 and its two-hundred day moving average is $16.38.

Blackstone Mortgage Trust (NYSE:BXMT - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.38 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.24 by $0.14. The company had revenue of $141.90 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $148.60 million. Blackstone Mortgage Trust had a positive return on equity of 9.17% and a negative net margin of 48.18%. On average, research analysts forecast that Blackstone Mortgage Trust will post 0.50 earnings per share for the current year.

Blackstone Mortgage Trust Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, December 31st will be issued a $0.30 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, December 31st. This is a negative change from Blackstone Mortgage Trust's previous quarterly dividend of $0.47. This represents a $1.20 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 10.9%. Blackstone Mortgage Trust's dividend payout ratio is -84.30%.

About Blackstone Mortgage Trust

Blackstone Mortgage Trust, Inc. is a real estate investment trust focused on commercial real estate finance. The company originates and acquires commercial mortgage loans, primarily senior loans secured by income-producing properties. Its investments span major commercial real estate markets in North America, Europe and Australia. Blackstone Mortgage Trust is externally managed by an affiliate of Blackstone and draws on the firm's real estate investment platform. The company was formerly known as Capital Trust, Inc. and adopted the Blackstone Mortgage Trust name in 2013.

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