Blackstone Mortgage Trust (NYSE:BXMT) Given New $19.50 Price Target at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods

Blackstone Mortgage Trust (NYSE:BXMT) had its price target raised by Keefe, Bruyette & Woods from $18.50 to $19.50 in a report issued on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a market perform rating on the real estate investment trust’s stock.

Several other equities analysts have also recently issued reports on the stock. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $20.00 price target for the company in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust from $18.50 to $17.50 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $20.29.

Blackstone Mortgage Trust Price Performance

NYSE BXMT opened at $19.85 on Thursday. Blackstone Mortgage Trust has a fifty-two week low of $16.53 and a fifty-two week high of $20.73. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.43 billion, a PE ratio of -14.28 and a beta of 1.50. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $18.21 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $18.36.

Blackstone Mortgage Trust (NYSE:BXMT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.39 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.87) by $1.26. Blackstone Mortgage Trust had a negative net margin of 12.91% and a positive return on equity of 9.35%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Blackstone Mortgage Trust will post 1.95 earnings per share for the current year.

Blackstone Mortgage Trust Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 31st were paid a dividend of $0.47 per share. This represents a $1.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 9.47%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 31st. Blackstone Mortgage Trust’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently -160.68%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Blackstone Mortgage Trust

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of BXMT. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 125.7% during the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 2,162 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $38,000 after acquiring an additional 1,204 shares in the last quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust during the third quarter valued at about $39,000. Huntington National Bank lifted its position in shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 1,672.9% during the 4th quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 3,014 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $52,000 after buying an additional 2,844 shares in the last quarter. Mountain Hill Investment Partners Corp. purchased a new position in Blackstone Mortgage Trust in the fourth quarter worth $56,000. Finally, McIlrath & Eck LLC purchased a new position in Blackstone Mortgage Trust in the third quarter worth $63,000. 64.15% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.