Blackstone Mortgage Trust, Inc. (NYSE:BXMT) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Hold” by Brokerages

by · The Markets Daily

Blackstone Mortgage Trust, Inc. (NYSE:BXMT – Get Free Report) has been given a consensus recommendation of “Hold” by the six research firms that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and two have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price target among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $20.00.

A number of brokerages have weighed in on BXMT. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $20.00 to $21.00 in a research note on Monday, November 17th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust in a report on Wednesday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Blackstone Mortgage Trust from $18.50 to $19.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 30th.

Check Out Our Latest Stock Analysis on Blackstone Mortgage Trust

Blackstone Mortgage Trust Stock Up 2.7%

BXMT traded up $0.50 during trading on Friday, hitting $18.82. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,344,456 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,432,431. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.35 and a beta of 1.16. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $18.53 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $19.03. Blackstone Mortgage Trust has a 12 month low of $16.51 and a 12 month high of $21.24.

Blackstone Mortgage Trust (NYSE:BXMT – Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.24 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.19 by $0.05. Blackstone Mortgage Trust had a return on equity of 4.06% and a net margin of 7.53%.The company had revenue of $132.71 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $103.56 million. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Blackstone Mortgage Trust will post 1.65 earnings per share for the current year.

Blackstone Mortgage Trust Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, October 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 30th were issued a dividend of $0.47 per share. This represents a $1.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 10.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 30th. Blackstone Mortgage Trust’s payout ratio is currently 303.23%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Katharine A. Keenan sold 4,593 shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.49, for a total transaction of $89,517.57. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 230,006 shares in the company, valued at $4,482,816.94. The trade was a 1.96% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 8,818 shares of company stock valued at $171,190. 1.02% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Blackstone Mortgage Trust

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. True North Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 2.2% during the 1st quarter. True North Advisors LLC now owns 24,509 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $490,000 after acquiring an additional 516 shares during the period. Jones Financial Companies Lllp lifted its stake in shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 45.5% in the 1st quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 1,715 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 536 shares during the period. Arizona State Retirement System boosted its position in shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 48,234 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $888,000 after purchasing an additional 660 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 36.0% during the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,926 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $54,000 after purchasing an additional 775 shares during the period. Finally, Police & Firemen s Retirement System of New Jersey grew its stake in shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 2.2% during the second quarter. Police & Firemen s Retirement System of New Jersey now owns 37,761 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $727,000 after purchasing an additional 796 shares during the period. 64.15% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Blackstone Mortgage Trust

(Get Free Report)

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.

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