KKR Real Estate Finance Trust (NYSE:KREF) Receives Consensus Rating of "Hold" from Brokerages

Key Points

• KKR Real Estate Finance Trust has a consensus “Hold” rating from nine analysts: five holds, two sells, one buy and one strong buy. The average 12-month price target is $8.92, compared with a recent share price of $7.04.
• Recent analyst actions were mixed, including a JPMorgan price-target cut to $7.50 with an underweight rating and a Keefe, Bruyette & Woods increase to $7.00 with a market-perform rating.
• Institutional investors own 70.23% of KREF, while the company’s latest quarterly results missed the EPS estimate, reporting a loss of $0.58 per share versus expectations for a $0.56 loss.

Shares of KKR Real Estate Finance Trust (NYSE:KREF - Get Free Report) have been assigned a consensus recommendation of "Hold" from the nine research firms that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating, one has issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $8.9167.

Several research firms recently weighed in on KREF. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price objective on KKR Real Estate Finance Trust from $6.50 to $7.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. Wall Street Zen downgraded KKR Real Estate Finance Trust from a "sell" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a research report on Sunday, July 12th. Weiss Ratings reissued a "sell (d)" rating on shares of KKR Real Estate Finance Trust in a report on Friday, July 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on KKR Real Estate Finance Trust from $8.00 to $7.50 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, July 24th. Finally, Zacks Research raised KKR Real Estate Finance Trust from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, July 10th.

Institutional Trading of KKR Real Estate Finance Trust

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of KREF. Hantz Financial Services Inc. boosted its holdings in KKR Real Estate Finance Trust by 210.5% during the fourth quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 3,099 shares of the company's stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 2,101 shares in the last quarter. Whetstone Capital Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of KKR Real Estate Finance Trust by 9.9% in the fourth quarter. Whetstone Capital Advisors LLC now owns 26,609 shares of the company's stock valued at $219,000 after buying an additional 2,400 shares in the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP lifted its position in shares of KKR Real Estate Finance Trust by 52.1% during the 2nd quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 7,937 shares of the company's stock valued at $54,000 after acquiring an additional 2,719 shares during the last quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC bought a new stake in shares of KKR Real Estate Finance Trust during the 2nd quarter worth $25,000. Finally, PNC Financial Services Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of KKR Real Estate Finance Trust by 104.6% in the 1st quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 7,236 shares of the company's stock worth $44,000 after acquiring an additional 3,699 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.23% of the company's stock.

KKR Real Estate Finance Trust Stock Down 1.5%

KREF opened at $7.04 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.36, a current ratio of 407.64 and a quick ratio of 407.64. KKR Real Estate Finance Trust has a 12 month low of $5.25 and a 12 month high of $9.73. The stock has a market capitalization of $412.70 million, a P/E ratio of -2.15 and a beta of 0.83. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $7.42 and a 200-day simple moving average of $6.94.

KKR Real Estate Finance Trust (NYSE:KREF - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 21st. The company reported ($0.58) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.56) by ($0.02). KKR Real Estate Finance Trust had a negative return on equity of 1.53% and a negative net margin of 47.33%.The company had revenue of $29.34 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $24.97 million. On average, equities analysts anticipate that KKR Real Estate Finance Trust will post 0.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

About KKR Real Estate Finance Trust

KKR Real Estate Finance Trust Inc NYSE: KREF is a publicly traded real estate investment trust that originates, acquires and manages commercial real estate loans. The company primarily provides senior loans secured by institutional-quality properties, with a focus on generating income from commercial real estate credit investments.

KREF's investments are generally backed by properties in sectors such as multifamily, office, industrial, hospitality and other commercial real estate categories.

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