Vestcor Inc Sells 2,471 Shares of Franklin BSP Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:FBRT)

Vestcor Inc trimmed its position in Franklin BSP Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:FBRT) by 7.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 28,849 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,471 shares during the quarter. Vestcor Inc’s holdings in Franklin BSP Realty Trust were worth $362,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in FBRT. FMR LLC boosted its stake in shares of Franklin BSP Realty Trust by 42.9% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,623 shares of the company’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 787 shares in the last quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC grew its stake in shares of Franklin BSP Realty Trust by 7.6% during the third quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC now owns 19,639 shares of the company’s stock worth $256,000 after buying an additional 1,381 shares during the last quarter. Mutual Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Franklin BSP Realty Trust by 7.7% during the fourth quarter. Mutual Advisors LLC now owns 19,728 shares of the company’s stock worth $247,000 after buying an additional 1,402 shares in the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP lifted its stake in shares of Franklin BSP Realty Trust by 3.2% in the 4th quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 48,183 shares of the company’s stock valued at $599,000 after acquiring an additional 1,501 shares during the last quarter. Finally, KBC Group NV lifted its stake in shares of Franklin BSP Realty Trust by 51.6% in the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 4,664 shares of the company’s stock valued at $61,000 after acquiring an additional 1,588 shares during the last quarter. 59.87% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Franklin BSP Realty Trust Price Performance

Shares of FBRT opened at $13.31 on Tuesday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $12.89 and a 200-day moving average of $12.96. Franklin BSP Realty Trust, Inc. has a 1 year low of $11.96 and a 1 year high of $14.12. The company has a market capitalization of $1.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.03 and a beta of 1.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.42, a current ratio of 84.89 and a quick ratio of 90.45.

Franklin BSP Realty Trust (NYSE:FBRT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The company reported $0.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.27 by $0.01. Franklin BSP Realty Trust had a net margin of 45.56% and a return on equity of 8.17%. The firm had revenue of $55.95 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $49.28 million. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Franklin BSP Realty Trust, Inc. will post 1.41 earnings per share for the current year.

Franklin BSP Realty Trust Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 10th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be issued a dividend of $0.355 per share. This represents a $1.42 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 10.67%. Franklin BSP Realty Trust’s payout ratio is currently 171.08%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

FBRT has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Citigroup reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Franklin BSP Realty Trust in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. B. Riley upgraded shares of Franklin BSP Realty Trust to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Jones Trading reissued a “buy” rating and set a $15.00 target price on shares of Franklin BSP Realty Trust in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Finally, Janney Montgomery Scott started coverage on shares of Franklin BSP Realty Trust in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $16.00 price target for the company. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Franklin BSP Realty Trust has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $15.50.

Franklin BSP Realty Trust 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).