Principal Financial Group Inc. Reduces Stock Holdings in Franklin BSP Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:FBRT)

Principal Financial Group Inc. reduced its position in Franklin BSP Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:FBRT) by 12.0% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 385,750 shares of the company’s stock after selling 52,628 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned approximately 0.47% of Franklin BSP Realty Trust worth $5,038,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in FBRT. FMR LLC raised its position in shares of Franklin BSP Realty Trust by 42.9% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,623 shares of the company’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 787 shares during the period. Fairscale Capital LLC bought a new stake in Franklin BSP Realty Trust during the 2nd quarter valued at $41,000. KBC Group NV lifted its position in shares of Franklin BSP Realty Trust by 51.6% during the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 4,664 shares of the company’s stock worth $61,000 after acquiring an additional 1,588 shares in the last quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Franklin BSP Realty Trust in the third quarter worth $168,000. Finally, Concorde Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Franklin BSP Realty Trust in the second quarter valued at $187,000. 59.87% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have commented on the company. Raymond James raised their target price on Franklin BSP Realty Trust from $15.00 to $15.50 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. Janney Montgomery Scott started coverage on shares of Franklin BSP Realty Trust in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $16.00 price objective for the company. Four analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $15.50.

Franklin BSP Realty Trust Price Performance

Franklin BSP Realty Trust stock opened at $12.53 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $1.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.28 and a beta of 1.40. The company has a quick ratio of 90.45, a current ratio of 90.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.67. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $12.94 and a 200 day simple moving average of $13.01. Franklin BSP Realty Trust, Inc. has a 52 week low of $11.99 and a 52 week high of $14.11.

Franklin BSP Realty Trust Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 10th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be given a $0.355 dividend. This represents a $1.42 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 11.33%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 31st. Franklin BSP Realty Trust’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 173.17%.

Franklin BSP Realty Trust Profile

Benefit Street Partners operates as a self-managed real estate investment trust (REIT). BSP earns income from investing in a leveraged portfolio of residential mortgage pass-through securities consisting almost exclusively of adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) securities issued and guaranteed by government-sponsored enterprises, either Federal National Mortgage Association (Fannie Mae) or Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation (Freddie Mac) (together, the government-sponsored enterprises (GSEs)), or by an agency of the federal government, Government National Mortgage Association (Ginnie Mae).