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

Principal Financial Group Inc. lessened its stake in Franklin BSP Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:FBRT) by 4.0% during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 438,378 shares of the company’s stock after selling 18,045 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Franklin BSP Realty Trust were worth $5,524,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Cetera Advisors LLC grew its stake in Franklin BSP Realty Trust by 181.4% in the first quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC now owns 92,432 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,235,000 after purchasing an additional 59,586 shares during the last quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. purchased a new stake in shares of Franklin BSP Realty Trust during the first quarter worth about $6,012,000. Gabelli Funds LLC grew its stake in shares of Franklin BSP Realty Trust by 54.6% during the first quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC now owns 130,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,737,000 after acquiring an additional 45,901 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Franklin BSP Realty Trust by 0.5% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 8,973,474 shares of the company’s stock worth $119,886,000 after acquiring an additional 48,171 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cetera Investment Advisers grew its stake in shares of Franklin BSP Realty Trust by 115.5% during the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 131,616 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,758,000 after acquiring an additional 70,549 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 59.87% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on FBRT shares. BTIG Research restated a “buy” rating and set a $16.00 price target on shares of Franklin BSP Realty Trust in a research note on Friday, July 19th. JMP Securities restated a “market outperform” rating and set a $15.00 price target on shares of Franklin BSP Realty Trust in a research note on Thursday, June 27th.

Franklin BSP Realty Trust Price Performance

Shares of NYSE FBRT opened at $12.91 on Tuesday. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $13.07 and its 200 day moving average price is $12.91. The firm has a market cap of $1.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 9.78 and a beta of 1.42. Franklin BSP Realty Trust, Inc. has a 52 week low of $11.99 and a 52 week high of $14.66. The company has a quick ratio of 89.36, a current ratio of 89.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.54.

Franklin BSP Realty Trust Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 10th. Investors of record on Friday, June 28th were given a $0.355 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 28th. This represents a $1.42 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 11.00%. Franklin BSP Realty Trust’s dividend payout ratio is currently 107.58%.

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).