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

Shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust, Inc. (NYSE:BXMT) have received an average rating of “Hold” from the six analysts that are covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and two have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $20.00.

BXMT has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted 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. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded Blackstone Mortgage Trust from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $20.00 to $21.00 in a report on Monday, November 17th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust in a research report on Tuesday.

Blackstone Mortgage Trust Stock Performance

BXMT opened at $19.49 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $18.51 and its two-hundred day moving average is $19.03. The firm has a market cap of $3.27 billion, a PE ratio of 31.44 and a beta of 1.16. Blackstone Mortgage Trust has a twelve month low of $16.51 and a twelve month high of $21.24.

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

Blackstone Mortgage Trust Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, October 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, September 30th were issued a $0.47 dividend. This represents a $1.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 9.6%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 30th. Blackstone Mortgage Trust’s dividend payout ratio is 303.23%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Katharine A. Keenan sold 4,593 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 230,006 shares in the company, valued at $4,482,816.94. This trade represents a 1.96% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders have sold a total of 8,818 shares of company stock worth $171,190 over the last ninety days. 1.02% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Blackstone Mortgage Trust

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Salomon & Ludwin LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust in the 3rd quarter valued at about $25,000. SVB Wealth LLC bought a new position in shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust during the first quarter worth about $29,000. Jones Financial Companies Lllp grew its holdings in shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 45.5% during the first quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 1,715 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 536 shares in the last quarter. North Capital Inc. acquired a new stake in Blackstone Mortgage Trust in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Finally, Advisory Services Network LLC bought a new stake in Blackstone Mortgage Trust in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $46,000. 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.