Franklin BSP Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:FBRT) Shares Sold by Sterling Capital Management LLC

Sterling Capital Management LLC decreased its stake in shares of Franklin BSP Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:FBRT - Free Report) by 91.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 2,630 shares of the company's stock after selling 27,328 shares during the quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC's holdings in Franklin BSP Realty Trust were worth $33,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Franklin BSP Realty Trust by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,939,515 shares of the company's stock valued at $25,335,000 after acquiring an additional 9,428 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Franklin BSP Realty Trust by 13.3% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,162,977 shares of the company's stock valued at $14,584,000 after purchasing an additional 136,687 shares during the last quarter. Strong Tower Advisory Services grew its position 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 worth $14,510,000 after purchasing an additional 101,951 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Franklin BSP Realty Trust by 7.1% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,137,128 shares of the company's stock valued at $14,260,000 after buying an additional 75,240 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Franklin BSP Realty Trust by 16.8% in the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 725,963 shares of the company's stock valued at $9,104,000 after buying an additional 104,599 shares during the period. 59.87% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Franklin BSP Realty Trust Price Performance

FBRT traded up $0.04 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $11.42. 80,541 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 374,882. The company has a market capitalization of $955.13 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.75 and a beta of 1.14. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $12.38 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $12.69. The company has a current ratio of 84.89, a quick ratio of 90.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.42. Franklin BSP Realty Trust, Inc. has a 52-week low of $10.50 and a 52-week high of $14.12.

Franklin BSP Realty Trust (NYSE:FBRT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The company reported $0.28 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.27 by $0.01. Franklin BSP Realty Trust had a net margin of 45.56% and a return on equity of 8.17%. The firm had revenue of $55.95 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $49.28 million. On average, equities analysts forecast that Franklin BSP Realty Trust, Inc. will post 1.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Franklin BSP Realty Trust Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 10th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st were given a dividend of $0.355 per share. This represents a $1.42 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 12.43%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 31st. Franklin BSP Realty Trust's payout ratio is 208.82%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently commented on the company. Jones Trading reduced their price target on Franklin BSP Realty Trust from $15.00 to $14.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday. B. Riley raised shares of Franklin BSP Realty Trust to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. JMP Securities reissued a "market outperform" rating and set a $15.00 price target on shares of Franklin BSP Realty Trust in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Citigroup reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of Franklin BSP Realty Trust in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $15.30.

About Franklin BSP Realty Trust

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).