Franklin BSP Realty Trust (NYSE:FBRT) Shares Gap Down - Time to Sell?

Franklin BSP Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:FBRT - Get Free Report) shares gapped down prior to trading on Tuesday . The stock had previously closed at $11.64, but opened at $10.80. Franklin BSP Realty Trust shares last traded at $11.58, with a volume of 128,818 shares traded.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Franklin BSP Realty Trust Price Performance

The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $12.34 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $12.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.42, a current ratio of 84.89 and a quick ratio of 90.45. The firm has a market capitalization of $956.89 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.81 and a beta of 1.14.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.27 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $55.95 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $49.28 million. Franklin BSP Realty Trust had a net margin of 45.56% and a return on equity of 8.17%. As a group, analysts expect that Franklin BSP Realty Trust, Inc. will post 1.41 EPS for the current year.

Franklin BSP Realty Trust Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 10th. Stockholders 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 12.41%. Franklin BSP Realty Trust's payout ratio is 208.82%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Franklin BSP Realty Trust

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of FBRT. Gratia Capital LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Franklin BSP Realty Trust by 110.0% in the 4th quarter. Gratia Capital LLC now owns 622,622 shares of the company's stock valued at $7,808,000 after buying an additional 326,122 shares in the last quarter. GraniteShares Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Franklin BSP Realty Trust during the fourth quarter worth about $2,475,000. Strong Tower Advisory Services grew its stake in shares of Franklin BSP Realty Trust by 16.3% in the 1st quarter. Strong Tower Advisory Services now owns 1,345,488 shares of the company's stock valued at $17,142,000 after purchasing an additional 188,377 shares during the last quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. increased its stake in Franklin BSP Realty Trust by 84.5% in the 4th quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 362,451 shares of the company's stock valued at $4,545,000 after buying an additional 165,981 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Franklin BSP Realty Trust by 17.5% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 958,564 shares of the company's stock valued at $12,020,000 after acquiring an additional 142,437 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 59.87% of the company's stock.

Franklin BSP Realty Trust Company 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).