Franklin BSP Realty Trust, Inc. (FBRT) to Issue Quarterly Dividend of $0.36 on April 10th

Franklin BSP Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:FBRT) declared a quarterly dividend on Monday, March 17th, RTT News reports. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st will be paid a dividend of 0.355 per share on Thursday, April 10th. This represents a $1.42 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 10.94%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st.

Franklin BSP Realty Trust has raised its dividend payment by an average of 72.4% per year over the last three years. Franklin BSP Realty Trust has a payout ratio of 92.2% indicating that its dividend is currently covered by earnings, but may not be in the future if the company’s earnings decline. Equities research analysts expect Franklin BSP Realty Trust to earn $1.49 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.42 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 95.3%.

Franklin BSP Realty Trust Trading Down 1.1 %

Shares of NYSE:FBRT opened at $12.98 on Friday. Franklin BSP Realty Trust has a 52 week low of $11.96 and a 52 week high of $14.12. The company’s 50 day moving average is $13.02 and its two-hundred day moving average is $12.96. The company has a market cap of $1.07 billion, a PE ratio of 15.64 and a beta of 1.37. The company has a current ratio of 84.89, a quick ratio of 90.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.42.

Franklin BSP Realty Trust (NYSE:FBRT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The company reported $0.28 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.27 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $55.95 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $49.28 million. Franklin BSP Realty Trust had a return on equity of 8.17% and a net margin of 45.56%. Equities analysts predict that Franklin BSP Realty Trust will post 1.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have commented on FBRT shares. Citigroup reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Franklin BSP Realty Trust in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. Jones Trading reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $15.00 price target on shares of Franklin BSP Realty Trust in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. B. Riley upgraded shares of Franklin BSP Realty Trust to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Janney Montgomery Scott started coverage on Franklin BSP Realty Trust in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. They set a “buy” rating and a $16.00 target price on the stock. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $15.50.

About Franklin BSP Realty Trust

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).