Blackstone Mortgage Trust, Inc. (NYSE:BXMT) Receives Average Recommendation of “Hold” from Analysts

Shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust, Inc. (NYSE:BXMT) have been assigned an average recommendation of “Hold” from the eight ratings firms that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and two have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year target price among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $19.58.

A number of brokerages have recently commented on BXMT. JMP Securities reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust in a research report on Tuesday, June 25th. They set a “peer perform” rating on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods restated a “market perform” rating and issued a $18.00 price objective on shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust in a report on Tuesday, June 18th. BTIG Research reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $23.00 target price on shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust in a report on Friday, July 19th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on Blackstone Mortgage Trust from $20.00 to $19.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 25th.

Insider Buying and Selling at Blackstone Mortgage Trust

In other Blackstone Mortgage Trust news, Director Timothy Steven Johnson purchased 57,050 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 2nd. The shares were acquired at an average price of $17.50 per share, for a total transaction of $998,375.00. Following the purchase, the director now owns 423,251 shares in the company, valued at $7,406,892.50. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, Director Timothy Steven Johnson purchased 57,050 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 2nd. The shares were acquired at an average price of $17.50 per share, for a total transaction of $998,375.00. Following the purchase, the director now owns 423,251 shares in the company, valued at $7,406,892.50. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Katharine A. Keenan sold 2,296 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $17.04, for a total transaction of $39,123.84. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 187,468 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,194,454.72. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have acquired 83,050 shares of company stock worth $1,448,135 and have sold 8,295 shares worth $144,087. Corporate insiders own 0.93% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Blackstone Mortgage Trust

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in BXMT. Park Place Capital Corp acquired a new stake in shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust during the second quarter worth $26,000. Versant Capital Management Inc raised its stake in Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 66.4% in the 2nd quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 2,183 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 871 shares in the last quarter. Cape Investment Advisory Inc. bought a new stake in Blackstone Mortgage Trust in the 4th quarter valued at about $42,000. GAMMA Investing LLC acquired a new position in shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust during the 4th quarter worth approximately $45,000. Finally, Creekmur Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust during the fourth quarter worth approximately $51,000. 64.15% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Blackstone Mortgage Trust Price Performance

BXMT opened at $18.46 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $3.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 615.33 and a beta of 1.49. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $18.00 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $18.47. Blackstone Mortgage Trust has a 1 year low of $16.53 and a 1 year high of $23.67.

Blackstone Mortgage Trust (NYSE:BXMT) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.51 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.47 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $466.15 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $131.87 million. Blackstone Mortgage Trust had a positive return on equity of 10.16% and a negative net margin of 7.98%. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.75 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Blackstone Mortgage Trust will post 1.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Mortgage Trust Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 30th will be given a dividend of $0.47 per share. This represents a $1.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 10.18%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 30th. Blackstone Mortgage Trust’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 8,266.67%.

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.