Principal Financial Group Inc. Raises Stock Position in Franklin BSP Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:FBRT)

Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in Franklin BSP Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:FBRT) by 6.6% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 456,423 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 28,436 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Franklin BSP Realty Trust were worth $6,098,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Strong Tower Advisory Services boosted its position in Franklin BSP Realty Trust by 7.9% in the 1st quarter. Strong Tower Advisory Services now owns 690,202 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,055,000 after buying an additional 50,332 shares during the last quarter. Quest Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Franklin BSP Realty Trust during the fourth quarter worth about $644,000. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Franklin BSP Realty Trust during the fourth quarter worth about $616,000. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System acquired a new stake in Franklin BSP Realty Trust during the fourth quarter worth about $555,000. Finally, Gabelli Funds LLC raised its stake in Franklin BSP Realty Trust by 66.4% during the fourth quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC now owns 84,099 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,136,000 after acquiring an additional 33,567 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 59.87% of the company’s stock.

Franklin BSP Realty Trust Price Performance

NYSE:FBRT traded down $0.04 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $12.49. 36,967 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 331,792. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $12.78 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $12.98. Franklin BSP Realty Trust, Inc. has a 12 month low of $11.99 and a 12 month high of $14.70. The company has a quick ratio of 88.39, a current ratio of 88.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.21. The company has a market capitalization of $1.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.49 and a beta of 1.44.

Franklin BSP Realty Trust (NYSE:FBRT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 30th. The company reported $0.41 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.42 by ($0.01). Franklin BSP Realty Trust had a return on equity of 14.32% and a net margin of 53.82%. The firm had revenue of $53.95 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $54.64 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.44 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Franklin BSP Realty Trust, Inc. will post 1.57 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Franklin BSP Realty Trust Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 28th will be given a $0.355 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 28th. This represents a $1.42 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 11.37%. Franklin BSP Realty Trust’s payout ratio is 107.58%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have commented on FBRT. Raymond James upgraded shares of Franklin BSP Realty Trust from an “outperform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and set a $15.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 12th. BTIG Research lowered their price objective on shares of Franklin BSP Realty Trust from $15.00 to $14.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th. Finally, JMP Securities reiterated a “market outperform” rating and set a $15.00 price objective on shares of Franklin BSP Realty Trust in a research note on Thursday, June 27th.

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).