KKR Real Estate Finance Trust (NYSE:KREF) Trading Up 8.6% Following Earnings Beat

Shares of KKR Real Estate Finance Trust Inc. (NYSE:KREF) rose 8.6% during trading on Tuesday after the company announced better than expected quarterly earnings. The company traded as high as $10.80 and last traded at $10.91. Approximately 365,174 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 16% from the average daily volume of 434,184 shares. The stock had previously closed at $10.05.

The company reported $0.28 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.08 by $0.20. KKR Real Estate Finance Trust had a return on equity of 9.46% and a net margin of 0.40%.

KKR Real Estate Finance Trust Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st were given a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 9.08%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 31st. KKR Real Estate Finance Trust’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -333.32%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently commented on KREF. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of KKR Real Estate Finance Trust from $11.50 to $10.50 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. JMP Securities boosted their target price on shares of KKR Real Estate Finance Trust from $12.50 to $13.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Raymond James cut their price target on shares of KKR Real Estate Finance Trust from $14.00 to $13.50 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their price objective on shares of KKR Real Estate Finance Trust from $13.00 to $12.25 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to MarketBeat, KKR Real Estate Finance Trust currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $12.46.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its stake in KKR Real Estate Finance Trust by 2.5% during the second quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 38,542 shares of the company’s stock valued at $349,000 after acquiring an additional 935 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC increased its position in shares of KKR Real Estate Finance Trust by 128.3% during the third quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 34,821 shares of the company’s stock valued at $430,000 after purchasing an additional 19,570 shares during the period. Future Financial Wealth Managment LLC acquired a new position in shares of KKR Real Estate Finance Trust in the third quarter valued at $25,000. Creative Planning lifted its position in KKR Real Estate Finance Trust by 37.0% in the third quarter. Creative Planning now owns 21,524 shares of the company’s stock worth $266,000 after purchasing an additional 5,809 shares during the period. Finally, OmniStar Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in KKR Real Estate Finance Trust during the third quarter worth $492,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.23% of the company’s stock.

KKR Real Estate Finance Trust Price Performance

The stock has a market cap of $766.31 million, a P/E ratio of -36.72 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a current ratio of 277.63, a quick ratio of 277.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.75. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $10.63 and its 200-day simple moving average is $11.32.

KKR Real Estate Finance Trust Company Profile

KKR Real Estate Finance Trust Inc, a mortgage real estate investment trust, focuses primarily on originating and acquiring transitional senior loans secured by commercial real estate (CRE) assets. It engages in the origination and purchase of credit investments related to CRE, including leveraged and unleveraged commercial real estate loans.