Wall Street Zen Downgrades KKR Real Estate Finance Trust (NYSE:KREF) to Sell

Key Points

• Wall Street Zen downgraded KKR Real Estate Finance Trust (NYSE: KREF) from a "hold" to a "sell," joining other negative analyst moves this quarter.
• Several firms have cut price targets (e.g., Keefe, Bruyette & Woods to $7.00 and JPMorgan to $6.50), yet the MarketBeat consensus remains a "Hold" with an average target of $9.00 (2 Buys, 4 Holds, 1 Sell).
• KREF shares trade around $6.70 with a market cap of about $430 million; the company recently beat EPS expectations ($0.22 vs. $0.14) but shows negative net margin and ROE and a high debt-to-equity ratio (3.83), while institutional investors own roughly 70% of the stock.

KKR Real Estate Finance Trust (NYSE:KREF - Get Free Report) was downgraded by analysts at Wall Street Zen from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Saturday.

Several other brokerages also recently issued reports on KREF. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reduced their price target on shares of KKR Real Estate Finance Trust from $8.00 to $7.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 8th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "sell (d)" rating on shares of KKR Real Estate Finance Trust in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on shares of KKR Real Estate Finance Trust from $8.00 to $6.50 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. Zacks Research raised shares of KKR Real Estate Finance Trust from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, April 10th. Finally, Citizens Jmp reduced their price target on shares of KKR Real Estate Finance Trust from $10.00 to $9.50 and set a "market outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, March 23rd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $9.00.

KKR Real Estate Finance Trust Stock Up 1.1%

Shares of NYSE KREF opened at $6.70 on Friday. KKR Real Estate Finance Trust has a 12-month low of $5.87 and a 12-month high of $9.98. The company has a market capitalization of $430.35 million, a PE ratio of -6.38 and a beta of 0.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.83, a current ratio of 407.64 and a quick ratio of 407.64. The firm's 50-day moving average is $6.69 and its two-hundred day moving average is $7.78.

KKR Real Estate Finance Trust (NYSE:KREF - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 3rd. The company reported $0.22 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.14 by $0.08. KKR Real Estate Finance Trust had a negative net margin of 10.80% and a negative return on equity of 1.13%. The company had revenue of $32.72 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $26.06 million. Equities analysts anticipate that KKR Real Estate Finance Trust will post 1.05 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On KKR Real Estate Finance Trust

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. increased its position in KKR Real Estate Finance Trust by 7.7% during the third quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 1,201,066 shares of the company's stock worth $10,810,000 after purchasing an additional 85,411 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. increased its position in KKR Real Estate Finance Trust by 36.2% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,145,916 shares of the company's stock worth $10,313,000 after purchasing an additional 304,413 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in KKR Real Estate Finance Trust by 10.7% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,002,949 shares of the company's stock worth $8,244,000 after purchasing an additional 96,947 shares during the last quarter. Nomura Holdings Inc. acquired a new position in KKR Real Estate Finance Trust during the third quarter worth approximately $5,212,000. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP increased its position in KKR Real Estate Finance Trust by 4.9% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 574,289 shares of the company's stock worth $4,721,000 after purchasing an additional 26,878 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.23% of the company's stock.

About KKR Real Estate Finance Trust

KKR Real Estate Finance Trust, Inc NYSE: KREF is a mortgage real estate investment trust sponsored by KKR & Co Inc The company focuses on originating, acquiring, financing and managing a diversified portfolio of commercial real estate debt and real estate-related assets across the United States and select European markets.

The trust's investment strategy is centered on lending to high-quality office, industrial, retail, multifamily and hotel properties. Its portfolio primarily consists of senior mortgage loans, mezzanine loans, floating-rate debt securities and preferred equity positions.

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