KKR Real Estate Finance Trust (NYSE:KREF) Short Interest Update
by Jessica Moore · The Cerbat GemKKR Real Estate Finance Trust (NYSE:KREF – Get Free Report) was the target of a significant drop in short interest in March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totaling 4,140,780 shares, a drop of 21.3% from the March 15th total of 5,264,715 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 2,445,184 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 1.7 days. Currently, 6.6% of the shares of the company are sold short.
Institutional Inflows and Outflows
Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Millennium Management LLC raised its position in shares of KKR Real Estate Finance Trust by 25.9% during the 1st quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 353,216 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,815,000 after acquiring an additional 72,566 shares during the last quarter. Caxton Associates LLP bought a new stake in shares of KKR Real Estate Finance Trust during the 1st quarter valued at $288,000. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC raised its position in shares of KKR Real Estate Finance Trust by 317.2% during the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 204,589 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,210,000 after acquiring an additional 155,553 shares during the last quarter. Jane Street Group LLC raised its position in shares of KKR Real Estate Finance Trust by 72.1% during the 1st quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 172,162 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,859,000 after acquiring an additional 72,140 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Acadian Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of KKR Real Estate Finance Trust during the 1st quarter valued at $66,000. Institutional investors own 70.23% of the company’s stock.
Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth
A number of research firms recently weighed in on KREF. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on KKR Real Estate Finance Trust from $8.00 to $6.50 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d)” rating on shares of KKR Real Estate Finance Trust in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. BTIG Research downgraded KKR Real Estate Finance Trust from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price objective on KKR Real Estate Finance Trust from $8.00 to $7.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 8th. Finally, Zacks Research raised KKR Real Estate Finance Trust from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, April 10th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $9.00.
KKR Real Estate Finance Trust Price Performance
Shares of KREF traded up $0.08 on Friday, hitting $6.70. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 645,845 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,650,279. The company has a market capitalization of $430.35 million, a PE ratio of -6.38 and a beta of 0.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.83, a current ratio of 407.64 and a quick ratio of 407.64. KKR Real Estate Finance Trust has a fifty-two week low of $5.87 and a fifty-two week high of $9.98. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $6.69 and a 200 day moving average price of $7.78.
KKR Real Estate Finance Trust (NYSE:KREF – Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 3rd. The company reported $0.22 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.14 by $0.08. KKR Real Estate Finance Trust had a negative return on equity of 1.13% and a negative net margin of 10.80%.The business had revenue of $32.72 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $26.06 million. On average, research analysts anticipate that KKR Real Estate Finance Trust will post 1.05 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
KKR Real Estate Finance Trust Dividend Announcement
The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 31st were given a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 14.9%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, March 31st. KKR Real Estate Finance Trust’s payout ratio is -95.24%.
KKR Real Estate Finance Trust Company Profile
KKR Real Estate Finance Trust, Inc (NYSE: KREF) is a mortgage real estate investment trust sponsored by KKR & Co Inc The company focuses on originating, acquiring, financing and managing a diversified portfolio of commercial real estate debt and real estate-related assets across the United States and select European markets.
The trust’s investment strategy is centered on lending to high-quality office, industrial, retail, multifamily and hotel properties. Its portfolio primarily consists of senior mortgage loans, mezzanine loans, floating-rate debt securities and preferred equity positions.