KKR Real Estate Finance Trust Inc. (NYSE:KREF) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Buy” from Analysts

KKR Real Estate Finance Trust Inc. (NYSE:KREF) has been given an average recommendation of “Buy” by the six ratings firms that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy recommendation. The average twelve-month price objective among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $12.75.

KREF has been the subject of several research reports. Raymond James cut their target price on shares of KKR Real Estate Finance Trust from $14.00 to $13.50 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on KKR Real Estate Finance Trust from $12.00 to $11.50 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, December 9th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on KKR Real Estate Finance Trust from $13.00 to $14.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised KKR Real Estate Finance Trust from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $11.50 to $13.00 in a research note on Thursday, September 5th. Finally, JMP Securities increased their price target on shares of KKR Real Estate Finance Trust from $12.50 to $13.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th.

KKR Real Estate Finance Trust Trading Up 1.1 %

Shares of KREF stock opened at $10.21 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $710.34 million, a PE ratio of -34.03 and a beta of 0.98. KKR Real Estate Finance Trust has a 52-week low of $8.71 and a 52-week high of $13.29. The business’s fifty day moving average is $11.27 and its 200 day moving average is $11.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.75, a quick ratio of 277.63 and a current ratio of 277.63.

KKR Real Estate Finance Trust (NYSE:KREF) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, October 21st. The company reported $0.37 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.34 by $0.03. KKR Real Estate Finance Trust had a return on equity of 9.46% and a net margin of 0.40%. The firm had revenue of $140.15 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $39.52 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.47 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that KKR Real Estate Finance Trust will post 1.4 EPS for the current fiscal year.

KKR Real Estate Finance Trust Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be paid a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 31st. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 9.79%. KKR Real Estate Finance Trust’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently -333.33%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On KKR Real Estate Finance Trust

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Azora Capital LP purchased a new position in shares of KKR Real Estate Finance Trust in the third quarter valued at about $20,167,000. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its holdings in KKR Real Estate Finance Trust by 27.6% during the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 455,291 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,372,000 after purchasing an additional 98,400 shares during the period. GFS Advisors LLC raised its position in KKR Real Estate Finance Trust by 9,591.3% during the 3rd quarter. GFS Advisors LLC now owns 290,740 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,591,000 after purchasing an additional 287,740 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its position in KKR Real Estate Finance Trust by 3.4% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 255,599 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,157,000 after purchasing an additional 8,448 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Zacks Investment Management purchased a new stake in KKR Real Estate Finance Trust in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $2,792,000. 70.23% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About KKR Real Estate Finance Trust

KKR Real Estate Finance Trust Inc, a mortgage real estate investment trust, focuses primarily on originating and acquiring transitional senior loans secured by commercial real estate (CRE) assets. It engages in the origination and purchase of credit investments related to CRE, including leveraged and unleveraged commercial real estate loans.