KKR Real Estate Finance Trust (NYSE:KREF) Cut to "Sell" at Wall Street Zen

Key Points

• KKR Real Estate Finance Trust has been downgraded to a "sell" rating by Wall Street Zen, following a previously held "hold" rating.
• Keefe, Bruyette & Woods revised their rating from "outperform" to "market perform" with a price target of $10.75, while JPMorgan decreased their target to $9.50.
• The company's latest quarterly earnings resulted in a loss per share of ($0.53), missing estimates, despite revenue of $35.75 million exceeding expectations.

Wall Street Zen cut shares of KKR Real Estate Finance Trust (NYSE:KREF - Free Report) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research note released on Sunday.

KREF has been the subject of several other research reports. JMP Securities restated a "market outperform" rating and issued a $12.00 price objective on shares of KKR Real Estate Finance Trust in a research note on Tuesday, May 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on KKR Real Estate Finance Trust from $11.50 to $9.50 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lowered KKR Real Estate Finance Trust from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating and set a $10.75 price target on the stock. in a research report on Monday, April 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, KKR Real Estate Finance Trust has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $11.95.

KKR Real Estate Finance Trust Stock Down 0.6%

Shares of KREF traded down $0.06 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $9.14. The stock had a trading volume of 129,398 shares, compared to its average volume of 596,271. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.81, a current ratio of 440.20 and a quick ratio of 440.20. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $9.10 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $9.77. The company has a market cap of $599.99 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -13.83 and a beta of 0.92. KKR Real Estate Finance Trust has a 1-year low of $8.28 and a 1-year high of $12.95.

KKR Real Estate Finance Trust (NYSE:KREF - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, July 22nd. The company reported ($0.53) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.16) by ($0.37). The business had revenue of $35.75 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $32.55 million. KKR Real Estate Finance Trust had a positive return on equity of 1.61% and a negative net margin of 4.43%. Equities research analysts expect that KKR Real Estate Finance Trust will post 1.05 earnings per share for the current year.

KKR Real Estate Finance Trust Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 30th were paid a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 10.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 30th. KKR Real Estate Finance Trust's payout ratio is currently -151.52%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On KKR Real Estate Finance Trust

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Wellington Management Group LLP acquired a new position in shares of KKR Real Estate Finance Trust during the fourth quarter worth about $5,350,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its holdings in KKR Real Estate Finance Trust by 2,400.3% in the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 477,633 shares of the company's stock valued at $4,825,000 after purchasing an additional 458,530 shares in the last quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. increased its position in KKR Real Estate Finance Trust by 116.5% during the 4th quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 844,610 shares of the company's stock worth $8,531,000 after purchasing an additional 454,517 shares during the period. Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of KKR Real Estate Finance Trust during the 4th quarter worth approximately $2,477,000. Finally, Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in shares of KKR Real Estate Finance Trust during the 1st quarter worth approximately $2,241,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.23% of the company's stock.

About KKR Real Estate Finance Trust

KKR Real Estate Finance Trust Inc, a mortgage real estate investment trust, focuses primarily on originating and acquiring transitional senior loans secured by commercial real estate (CRE) assets. It engages in the origination and purchase of credit investments related to CRE, including leveraged and unleveraged commercial real estate loans.