Franklin BSP Realty Trust (NYSE:FBRT) Upgraded by Raymond James to Strong-Buy

Raymond James upgraded shares of Franklin BSP Realty Trust (NYSE:FBRT - Free Report) from an outperform rating to a strong-buy rating in a report issued on Friday, Marketbeat Ratings reports. The brokerage currently has $15.00 price target on the stock.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. Jonestrading reduced their price target on Franklin BSP Realty Trust from $16.00 to $15.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 16th. JMP Securities raised Franklin BSP Realty Trust from a market perform rating to an outperform rating and set a $15.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 10th.

Franklin BSP Realty Trust Stock Down 1.2 %

FBRT stock traded down $0.15 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $12.36. The stock had a trading volume of 599,632 shares, compared to its average volume of 350,610. The firm has a market cap of $1.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.87 and a beta of 1.43. The business has a 50-day moving average of $12.86 and a two-hundred day moving average of $13.12. Franklin BSP Realty Trust has a 52-week low of $11.73 and a 52-week high of $14.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.15, a current ratio of 83.74 and a quick ratio of 83.74.

Franklin BSP Realty Trust Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 29th were paid a $0.355 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 27th. This represents a $1.42 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 11.49%. Franklin BSP Realty Trust's dividend payout ratio is currently 100.71%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Franklin BSP Realty Trust

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. SageView Advisory Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Franklin BSP Realty Trust by 79.8% in the fourth quarter. SageView Advisory Group LLC now owns 20,768 shares of the company's stock worth $275,000 after acquiring an additional 9,218 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Franklin BSP Realty Trust by 8.3% during the fourth quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 176,233 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,381,000 after purchasing an additional 13,473 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its holdings in shares of Franklin BSP Realty Trust by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 190,266 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,571,000 after purchasing an additional 2,157 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc lifted its holdings in shares of Franklin BSP Realty Trust by 12.6% during the fourth quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 251,608 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,399,000 after purchasing an additional 28,155 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Barclays PLC lifted its holdings in shares of Franklin BSP Realty Trust by 174.5% during the fourth quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 130,529 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,763,000 after purchasing an additional 82,983 shares in the last quarter. 59.87% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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).