Blackstone Mortgage Trust (NYSE:BXMT) Reaches New 12-Month Low – Here’s Why

Blackstone Mortgage Trust, Inc. (NYSE:BXMT)’s share price hit a new 52-week low during trading on Wednesday . The company traded as low as $16.51 and last traded at $16.74, with a volume of 1128179 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $17.17.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have weighed in on BXMT. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Blackstone Mortgage Trust from $18.50 to $19.50 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price objective on shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust from $20.50 to $20.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Monday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust from $17.50 to $20.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $20.75.

Blackstone Mortgage Trust Trading Up 0.5 %

The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $19.77 and its 200 day moving average price is $18.86. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -14.95 and a beta of 1.22.

Blackstone Mortgage Trust (NYSE:BXMT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.39 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.87) by $1.26. Blackstone Mortgage Trust had a positive return on equity of 8.62% and a negative net margin of 11.54%. On average, analysts forecast that Blackstone Mortgage Trust, Inc. will post 1.65 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Mortgage Trust Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be paid a dividend of $0.47 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. This represents a $1.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 10.75%. Blackstone Mortgage Trust’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -160.68%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Katharine A. Keenan sold 2,315 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.70, for a total value of $47,920.50. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 246,172 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,095,760.40. This trade represents a 0.93 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 5,652 shares of company stock valued at $116,971. 0.93% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Blackstone Mortgage Trust

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of BXMT. FMR LLC boosted its stake in Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 11.4% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 17,812 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $339,000 after acquiring an additional 1,827 shares in the last quarter. Stifel Financial Corp increased its stake in Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 15.4% in the 3rd quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 70,381 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,338,000 after buying an additional 9,405 shares during the period. McIlrath & Eck LLC acquired a new position in Blackstone Mortgage Trust in the 3rd quarter valued at $63,000. Virtu Financial LLC purchased a new position in Blackstone Mortgage Trust during the 3rd quarter worth $350,000. Finally, Tidal Investments LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust in the 3rd quarter worth $883,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 64.15% of the company’s stock.

Blackstone Mortgage Trust Company Profile

Blackstone Mortgage Trust, Inc, a real estate finance company, originates senior loans collateralized by commercial properties in North America, Europe, and Australia. The company originates and acquires senior floating rate mortgage loans that are secured by a first-priority mortgage on commercial real estate assets.