Blackstone Mortgage Trust, Inc. (NYSE:BXMT) Short Interest Down 6.6% in January

Blackstone Mortgage Trust, Inc. (NYSE:BXMT) was the recipient of a significant decline in short interest in January. As of January 31st, there was short interest totalling 19,480,000 shares, a decline of 6.6% from the January 15th total of 20,860,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 1,530,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 12.7 days.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Blackstone Mortgage Trust

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. True North Advisors LLC grew its position in Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. True North Advisors LLC now owns 23,993 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $418,000 after buying an additional 558 shares during the last quarter. Sheaff Brock Investment Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. Sheaff Brock Investment Advisors LLC now owns 38,237 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $666,000 after acquiring an additional 624 shares during the period. CIBC Asset Management Inc boosted its holdings in shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 4.9% in the fourth quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 16,915 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $294,000 after acquiring an additional 785 shares in the last quarter. IFP Advisors Inc boosted its holdings in shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 9.1% in the fourth quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 10,037 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $175,000 after acquiring an additional 841 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Summit Investment Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 5.6% during the fourth quarter. Summit Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 18,165 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $316,000 after purchasing an additional 967 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.15% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BXMT has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on Blackstone Mortgage Trust from $18.50 to $17.50 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Wolfe Research upgraded Blackstone Mortgage Trust from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $20.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods boosted their target price on Blackstone Mortgage Trust from $18.50 to $19.50 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $20.29.

Blackstone Mortgage Trust Trading Up 2.4 %

Shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust stock traded up $0.47 on Monday, hitting $20.34. The stock had a trading volume of 3,296,475 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,445,799. The stock has a market cap of $3.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -14.64 and a beta of 1.50. Blackstone Mortgage Trust has a 52-week low of $16.53 and a 52-week high of $20.73. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $18.27 and its 200 day moving average price is $18.39.

Blackstone Mortgage Trust (NYSE:BXMT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.39 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.87) by $1.26. Blackstone Mortgage Trust had a positive return on equity of 9.35% and a negative net margin of 12.91%. Analysts predict that Blackstone Mortgage Trust will post 1.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Blackstone Mortgage Trust Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 31st were issued a dividend of $0.47 per share. This represents a $1.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 9.24%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 31st. Blackstone Mortgage Trust’s dividend payout ratio is currently -135.25%.

About Blackstone Mortgage Trust

Blackstone Mortgage Trust, Inc, a real estate finance company, originates senior loans collateralized by commercial properties in North America, Europe, and Australia. The company originates and acquires senior floating rate mortgage loans that are secured by a first-priority mortgage on commercial real estate assets.