KKR Real Estate Finance Trust Inc. (NYSE:KREF) Short Interest Down 13.4% in August

KKR Real Estate Finance Trust Inc. (NYSE:KREF) saw a significant drop in short interest in August. As of August 31st, there was short interest totalling 1,230,000 shares, a drop of 13.4% from the August 15th total of 1,420,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 532,600 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.3 days.

KKR Real Estate Finance Trust Price Performance

KREF stock traded up $0.02 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $12.61. The stock had a trading volume of 499,321 shares, compared to its average volume of 541,828. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $11.21 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $10.18. KKR Real Estate Finance Trust has a twelve month low of $8.71 and a twelve month high of $14.12. The stock has a market capitalization of $874.05 million, a P/E ratio of -27.39 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.86, a current ratio of 392.62 and a quick ratio of 392.62.

KKR Real Estate Finance Trust (NYSE:KREF) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 22nd. The company reported ($1.57) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.30 by ($1.87). The firm had revenue of $47.60 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $45.47 million. KKR Real Estate Finance Trust had a return on equity of 9.88% and a net margin of 5.88%. The business’s revenue was down 6.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.48 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that KKR Real Estate Finance Trust will post 1.35 EPS for the current fiscal year.

KKR Real Estate Finance Trust Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 30th will be paid a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 7.93%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 30th. KKR Real Estate Finance Trust’s dividend payout ratio is currently -217.39%.

Institutional Trading of KKR Real Estate Finance Trust

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. TFO Wealth Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of KKR Real Estate Finance Trust by 21,842.9% during the 4th quarter. TFO Wealth Partners LLC now owns 3,072 shares of the company’s stock worth $41,000 after purchasing an additional 3,058 shares during the last quarter. Future Financial Wealth Managment LLC acquired a new position in KKR Real Estate Finance Trust during the first quarter worth $40,000. EntryPoint Capital LLC purchased a new stake in KKR Real Estate Finance Trust in the 1st quarter valued at $54,000. Diversified Trust Co acquired a new stake in shares of KKR Real Estate Finance Trust in the 1st quarter worth $101,000. Finally, Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd purchased a new position in shares of KKR Real Estate Finance Trust during the 4th quarter worth $180,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.23% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the stock. JMP Securities reissued a “market outperform” rating and set a $12.00 price target on shares of KKR Real Estate Finance Trust in a report on Tuesday, May 21st. BTIG Research restated a “buy” rating and set a $11.50 target price on shares of KKR Real Estate Finance Trust in a research report on Friday, July 19th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised KKR Real Estate Finance Trust from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $11.50 to $13.00 in a report on Thursday, September 5th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on KKR Real Estate Finance Trust from $10.00 to $9.50 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, July 16th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $11.71.

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.