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

Shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust, Inc. (NYSE:BXMT) have received an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the seven analysts that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price objective among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $21.1250.

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upped their target price on shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust from $21.00 to $21.50 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 12th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 24th. Finally, BTIG Research restated a “buy” rating and set a $23.00 target price on shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust in a research note on Tuesday, February 10th.

Blackstone Mortgage Trust Stock Performance

BXMT stock opened at $18.46 on Wednesday. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $19.21 and its 200 day moving average price is $19.10. Blackstone Mortgage Trust has a fifty-two week low of $16.51 and a fifty-two week high of $20.67. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.40 and a beta of 1.00.

Blackstone Mortgage Trust Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 31st will be paid a $0.47 dividend. This represents a $1.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 10.2%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 31st. Blackstone Mortgage Trust’s dividend payout ratio is currently 289.23%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Blackstone Mortgage Trust news, President Fernando Austin Pena sold 1,666 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $18.88, for a total value of $31,454.08. Following the transaction, the president directly owned 76,967 shares in the company, valued at $1,453,136.96. This represents a 2.12% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 1.02% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Blackstone Mortgage Trust

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd purchased a new position in Blackstone Mortgage Trust in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $82,000. Sankala Group LLC purchased a new position in Blackstone Mortgage Trust in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $562,000. Virtu Financial LLC purchased a new position in Blackstone Mortgage Trust in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $293,000. Invesco Ltd. increased its stake in Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 25.7% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,354,870 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $25,919,000 after purchasing an additional 277,280 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mackenzie Financial Corp increased its stake in Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 5.8% in the fourth quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 44,904 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $886,000 after purchasing an additional 2,462 shares during the last quarter. 64.15% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.