Creative Planning Boosts Stake in KKR Real Estate Finance Trust Inc. (NYSE:KREF)

Creative Planning increased its position in shares of KKR Real Estate Finance Trust Inc. (NYSE:KREF) by 37.0% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 21,524 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 5,809 shares during the quarter. Creative Planning’s holdings in KKR Real Estate Finance Trust were worth $266,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in KREF. Future Financial Wealth Managment LLC purchased a new position in shares of KKR Real Estate Finance Trust in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $25,000. EntryPoint Capital LLC purchased a new position in KKR Real Estate Finance Trust in the 1st quarter valued at $54,000. SG Americas Securities LLC acquired a new position in KKR Real Estate Finance Trust in the 2nd quarter valued at $138,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its position in KKR Real Estate Finance Trust by 17.3% during the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 16,846 shares of the company’s stock worth $170,000 after buying an additional 2,481 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Everence Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of KKR Real Estate Finance Trust by 68.4% in the 1st quarter. Everence Capital Management Inc. now owns 23,160 shares of the company’s stock worth $233,000 after acquiring an additional 9,410 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.23% of the company’s stock.

KKR Real Estate Finance Trust Stock Down 0.8 %

KREF stock opened at $11.89 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.75, a current ratio of 277.63 and a quick ratio of 277.63. KKR Real Estate Finance Trust Inc. has a 12 month low of $8.71 and a 12 month high of $14.12. The firm has a market capitalization of $827.22 million, a PE ratio of -39.63 and a beta of 0.99. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $12.01 and its 200-day simple moving average is $10.73.

KKR Real Estate Finance Trust (NYSE:KREF) last released its earnings results on Monday, October 21st. The company reported $0.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.34 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $140.15 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $39.52 million. KKR Real Estate Finance Trust had a net margin of 0.40% and a return on equity of 9.46%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.47 EPS. Equities analysts expect that KKR Real Estate Finance Trust Inc. will post 1.4 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

KKR Real Estate Finance Trust Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Investors of record on Monday, September 30th were given a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 30th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 8.41%. KKR Real Estate Finance Trust’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently -333.33%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have weighed in on KREF. BTIG Research reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $11.50 price objective on shares of KKR Real Estate Finance Trust in a report on Friday, July 19th. JMP Securities upped their price objective on KKR Real Estate Finance Trust from $12.50 to $13.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Raymond James cut their price objective on KKR Real Estate Finance Trust from $14.00 to $13.50 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded shares of KKR Real Estate Finance Trust from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $11.50 to $13.00 in a research report on Thursday, September 5th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of KKR Real Estate Finance Trust from $13.00 to $14.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $12.83.

About KKR Real Estate Finance Trust

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.