Franklin BSP Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:FBRT) Short Interest Update

Franklin BSP Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:FBRT) was the target of a significant increase in short interest in the month of October. As of October 31st, there was short interest totalling 1,900,000 shares, an increase of 8.6% from the October 15th total of 1,750,000 shares. Currently, 2.3% of the company’s shares are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 306,600 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 6.2 days.

Franklin BSP Realty Trust Stock Down 0.2 %

Shares of NYSE FBRT traded down $0.02 during trading on Friday, hitting $12.83. 251,052 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 311,570. The business’s fifty day moving average is $13.07 and its 200 day moving average is $12.99. Franklin BSP Realty Trust has a fifty-two week low of $11.99 and a fifty-two week high of $14.66. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.65 and a beta of 1.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.67, a quick ratio of 90.45 and a current ratio of 90.45.

Franklin BSP Realty Trust Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 10th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 30th were issued a dividend of $0.355 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 30th. This represents a $1.42 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 11.07%. Franklin BSP Realty Trust’s dividend payout ratio is currently 173.17%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Franklin BSP Realty Trust

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in FBRT. FMR LLC increased its position in shares of Franklin BSP Realty Trust by 42.9% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,623 shares of the company’s stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 787 shares in the last quarter. Fairscale Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Franklin BSP Realty Trust during the second quarter worth about $41,000. KBC Group NV increased its position in shares of Franklin BSP Realty Trust by 51.6% during the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 4,664 shares of the company’s stock worth $61,000 after acquiring an additional 1,588 shares in the last quarter. Your Advocates Ltd. LLP bought a new stake in shares of Franklin BSP Realty Trust during the second quarter worth about $76,000. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC bought a new stake in shares of Franklin BSP Realty Trust during the first quarter worth about $136,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 59.87% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, Raymond James boosted their target price on shares of Franklin BSP Realty Trust from $15.00 to $15.50 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, September 19th.

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).