Analysts Set KKR Real Estate Finance Trust (NYSE:KREF) Price Target at $8.40

KKR Real Estate Finance Trust (NYSE:KREF) has earned a consensus recommendation of “Reduce” from the eight analysts that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, five have issued a hold recommendation and one has assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month target price among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $8.40.

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on KREF shares. Citizens Jmp lowered KKR Real Estate Finance Trust from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, April 27th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of KKR Real Estate Finance Trust from $9.00 to $7.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 28th. Citigroup cut shares of KKR Real Estate Finance Trust from a “neutral” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday, April 27th. Zacks Research downgraded shares of KKR Real Estate Finance Trust from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Monday, May 11th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of KKR Real Estate Finance Trust from a “strong sell” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, June 20th.

KKR Real Estate Finance Trust Stock Performance

KREF opened at $7.11 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 407.64, a current ratio of 407.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.90. The firm has a market cap of $456.85 million, a PE ratio of -3.82 and a beta of 0.82. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $6.75 and a 200-day simple moving average of $7.09. KKR Real Estate Finance Trust has a fifty-two week low of $5.25 and a fifty-two week high of $9.98.

KKR Real Estate Finance Trust (NYSE:KREF) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 22nd. The company reported ($0.06) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.11 by ($0.17). The company had revenue of $20.89 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $28.76 million. KKR Real Estate Finance Trust had a negative return on equity of 0.78% and a negative net margin of 23.55%. As a group, equities analysts predict that KKR Real Estate Finance Trust will post -1.63 EPS for the current fiscal year.

KKR Real Estate Finance Trust Cuts Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 30th will be given a dividend of $0.10 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 30th. This represents a $0.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.6%. KKR Real Estate Finance Trust’s dividend payout ratio is presently -21.51%.

Insider Buying and Selling at KKR Real Estate Finance Trust

In other news, COO W Patrick Mattson acquired 40,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, April 24th. The shares were bought at an average price of $6.03 per share, with a total value of $241,200.00. Following the acquisition, the chief operating officer owned 500,287 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,016,730.61. This trade represents a 8.69% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Matthew A. Salem purchased 60,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, April 24th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $6.04 per share, for a total transaction of $362,400.00. Following the purchase, the chief executive officer directly owned 703,075 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,246,573. This represents a 9.33% increase in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. 2.12% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Conversant Capital LLC acquired a new position in KKR Real Estate Finance Trust in the first quarter worth $9,000,000. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of KKR Real Estate Finance Trust by 7.7% in the third quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 1,201,066 shares of the company’s stock valued at $10,810,000 after buying an additional 85,411 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of KKR Real Estate Finance Trust by 36.2% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,145,916 shares of the company’s stock valued at $10,313,000 after buying an additional 304,413 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in KKR Real Estate Finance Trust by 10.7% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,002,949 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,244,000 after buying an additional 96,947 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nomura Holdings Inc. acquired a new position in KKR Real Estate Finance Trust during the 3rd quarter worth about $5,212,000. 70.23% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

KKR Real Estate Finance Trust Company Profile

KKR Real Estate Finance Trust, Inc (NYSE: KREF) is a mortgage real estate investment trust sponsored by KKR & Co Inc The company focuses on originating, acquiring, financing and managing a diversified portfolio of commercial real estate debt and real estate-related assets across the United States and select European markets.

The trust’s investment strategy is centered on lending to high-quality office, industrial, retail, multifamily and hotel properties. Its portfolio primarily consists of senior mortgage loans, mezzanine loans, floating-rate debt securities and preferred equity positions.