KKR Real Estate Finance Trust Inc. (NYSE:KREF) Stock Position Raised by Stifel Financial Corp

Stifel Financial Corp boosted its holdings in KKR Real Estate Finance Trust Inc. (NYSE:KREF) by 420.7% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 116,113 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 93,813 shares during the period. Stifel Financial Corp’s holdings in KKR Real Estate Finance Trust were worth $1,434,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of KREF. Future Financial Wealth Managment LLC acquired a new stake in shares of KKR Real Estate Finance Trust during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $25,000. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. increased its position in KKR Real Estate Finance Trust by 24.6% in the third quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. now owns 12,885 shares of the company’s stock worth $159,000 after buying an additional 2,546 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC bought a new stake in KKR Real Estate Finance Trust in the second quarter valued at $138,000. Intech Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of KKR Real Estate Finance Trust during the third quarter valued at $197,000. Finally, Creative Planning grew its position in shares of KKR Real Estate Finance Trust by 37.0% during the third quarter. Creative Planning now owns 21,524 shares of the company’s stock worth $266,000 after acquiring an additional 5,809 shares during the last quarter. 70.23% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently weighed in on KREF. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on shares of KKR Real Estate Finance Trust from $12.00 to $11.50 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Raymond James reduced 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 KKR Real Estate Finance Trust from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their target price for the company from $11.50 to $13.00 in a research report on Thursday, September 5th. JMP Securities lifted their target price on KKR Real Estate Finance Trust from $12.50 to $13.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on KKR Real Estate Finance Trust from $13.00 to $14.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $12.75.

KKR Real Estate Finance Trust Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE KREF opened at $10.46 on Friday. KKR Real Estate Finance Trust Inc. has a 1 year low of $8.71 and a 1 year high of $14.10. The firm has a market cap of $727.73 million, a P/E ratio of -34.87 and a beta of 0.98. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $11.56 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $11.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.75, a quick ratio of 277.63 and a current ratio of 277.63.

KKR Real Estate Finance Trust (NYSE:KREF) last announced its earnings results on Monday, October 21st. The company reported $0.37 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.34 by $0.03. KKR Real Estate Finance Trust had a return on equity of 9.46% and a net margin of 0.40%. The business had revenue of $140.15 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $39.52 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.47 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that KKR Real Estate Finance Trust Inc. will post 1.4 EPS for the current fiscal year.

KKR Real Estate Finance Trust Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be paid a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 31st. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 9.56%. KKR Real Estate Finance Trust’s dividend payout ratio is currently -333.33%.

KKR Real Estate Finance Trust Profile

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.