Blackstone Mortgage Trust (NYSE:BXMT) Sets New 52-Week Low After Analyst Downgrade

Blackstone Mortgage Trust, Inc. (NYSE:BXMT)’s stock price reached a new 52-week low during mid-day trading on Monday after JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on the stock from $20.00 to $19.00. JPMorgan Chase & Co. currently has an overweight rating on the stock. Blackstone Mortgage Trust traded as low as $16.70 and last traded at $16.7450, with a volume of 688168 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $17.08.

Several other brokerages have also recently weighed in on BXMT. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a report on Monday, June 29th. UBS Group began coverage on shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust in a report on Tuesday, June 2nd. They set a “buy” rating and a $21.00 price target for the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods dropped their price objective on shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust from $20.50 to $20.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, June 26th. Finally, Zacks Research lowered shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $20.75.

Insider Activity at Blackstone Mortgage Trust

In related news, President Fernando Austin Pena sold 2,398 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $17.48, for a total transaction of $41,917.04. Following the completion of the sale, the president owned 74,569 shares in the company, valued at $1,303,466.12. The trade was a 3.12% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. In the last quarter, insiders sold 5,420 shares of company stock valued at $95,233. Corporate insiders own 1.18% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Blackstone Mortgage Trust

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of BXMT. Northside Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust in the 2nd quarter valued at $28,000. Kennicott Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Blackstone Mortgage Trust during the 2nd quarter worth $337,000. Handelsbanken Fonder AB lifted its position in Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 7.7% in the second quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 57,351 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $972,000 after acquiring an additional 4,100 shares during the last quarter. Segall Bryant & Hamill LLC purchased a new stake in Blackstone Mortgage Trust in the first quarter valued at $286,000. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE boosted its stake in Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 21.9% in the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 1,297,062 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $24,839,000 after acquiring an additional 233,357 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 64.15% of the company’s stock.

Blackstone Mortgage Trust Price Performance

The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $17.76 and its 200-day simple moving average is $18.77. The company has a market cap of $2.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.52 and a beta of 0.90.

Blackstone Mortgage Trust Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 30th were given a $0.47 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, June 30th. This represents a $1.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 11.2%. Blackstone Mortgage Trust’s dividend payout ratio is 308.20%.

Blackstone Mortgage Trust Company Profile

Blackstone Mortgage Trust, Inc (NYSE: BXMT) is a publicly traded real estate finance company that originates, acquires and manages commercial mortgage loans and other CRE debt investments. As an externally managed real estate investment trust (REIT), it seeks to generate attractive risk-adjusted returns through the deployment of senior floating-rate and fixed-rate loans backed by income-producing properties.

The firm’s core business activities span the origination of senior mortgage loans, the acquisition of loan portfolios and other real estate debt instruments, and the active management of those investments.