Virtu Financial LLC Acquires Shares of 32,657 KKR Real Estate Finance Trust Inc. (NYSE:KREF)

Virtu Financial LLC acquired a new stake in shares of KKR Real Estate Finance Trust Inc. (NYSE:KREF) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 32,657 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $330,000.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Azora Capital LP bought a new stake in KKR Real Estate Finance Trust in the 3rd quarter worth $20,167,000. Zacks Investment Management purchased a new stake in shares of KKR Real Estate Finance Trust during the third quarter worth about $2,792,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of KKR Real Estate Finance Trust in the fourth quarter worth about $1,835,000. Condor Capital Management increased its holdings in KKR Real Estate Finance Trust by 70.2% during the 4th quarter. Condor Capital Management now owns 251,273 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,538,000 after purchasing an additional 103,654 shares during the period. Finally, Stifel Financial Corp increased its holdings in KKR Real Estate Finance Trust by 420.7% during the 3rd quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 116,113 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,434,000 after purchasing an additional 93,813 shares during the period. 70.23% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

KKR Real Estate Finance Trust Stock Performance

KKR Real Estate Finance Trust stock opened at $11.15 on Friday. KKR Real Estate Finance Trust Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $8.71 and a fifty-two week high of $12.95. The stock has a market cap of $765.82 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 61.92 and a beta of 0.99. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $10.89 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $11.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.50, a quick ratio of 296.16 and a current ratio of 296.16.

KKR Real Estate Finance Trust (NYSE:KREF) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 3rd. The company reported $0.28 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.08 by $0.20. KKR Real Estate Finance Trust had a return on equity of 8.53% and a net margin of 6.30%. As a group, analysts expect that KKR Real Estate Finance Trust Inc. will post 1.05 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

KKR Real Estate Finance Trust Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st will be paid a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 8.97%. KKR Real Estate Finance Trust’s payout ratio is 555.56%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price objective on KKR Real Estate Finance Trust from $13.00 to $12.25 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on KKR Real Estate Finance Trust from $11.50 to $10.50 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to MarketBeat, KKR Real Estate Finance Trust has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $12.46.

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.