Raymond James Financial Inc. Purchases Shares of 68,487 Franklin BSP Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:FBRT)

Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of Franklin BSP Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:FBRT - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 68,487 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $859,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. owned 0.08% of Franklin BSP Realty Trust as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Barclays PLC boosted its position in Franklin BSP Realty Trust by 22.0% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 136,534 shares of the company's stock worth $1,784,000 after acquiring an additional 24,633 shares during the period. Strong Tower Advisory Services boosted 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 acquiring an additional 101,951 shares during the period. Mutual Advisors LLC boosted its position in Franklin BSP Realty Trust by 7.7% during the 4th quarter. Mutual Advisors LLC now owns 19,728 shares of the company's stock worth $247,000 after acquiring an additional 1,402 shares during the period. Costello Asset Management INC acquired a new stake in Franklin BSP Realty Trust during the 4th quarter worth about $58,000. Finally, Hodges Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in Franklin BSP Realty Trust by 49.8% during the 4th quarter. Hodges Capital Management Inc. now owns 21,692 shares of the company's stock worth $272,000 after acquiring an additional 7,216 shares during the period. 59.87% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports 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 report on Tuesday, April 29th. Citigroup reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Franklin BSP Realty Trust in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. Finally, JMP Securities reiterated a "market outperform" rating and set a $15.00 price target on shares of Franklin BSP Realty Trust in a report on Tuesday, April 29th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Franklin BSP Realty Trust currently has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $15.30.

Franklin BSP Realty Trust Price Performance

Franklin BSP Realty Trust stock traded up $0.04 on Friday, reaching $11.28. The company's stock had a trading volume of 283,022 shares, compared to its average volume of 379,137. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.42, a quick ratio of 90.45 and a current ratio of 84.89. The company has a market cap of $927.39 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.59 and a beta of 1.07. The business's fifty day moving average price is $12.10 and its 200 day moving average price is $12.60. Franklin BSP Realty Trust, Inc. has a twelve month low of $10.50 and a twelve month 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 (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.27 by $0.01. Franklin BSP Realty Trust had a return on equity of 8.17% and a net margin of 45.56%. The business had revenue of $55.95 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $49.28 million. Equities analysts expect 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 firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st were given a dividend of $0.355 per share. This represents a $1.42 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 12.59%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 31st. Franklin BSP Realty Trust's dividend payout ratio is currently 208.82%.

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).