KKR Real Estate Finance Trust Inc. (NYSE:KREF) Receives Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Shares of KKR Real Estate Finance Trust Inc. (NYSE:KREF) have been given an average rating of “Moderate Buy” by the seven ratings firms that are covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and five have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $11.50.

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. JMP Securities reiterated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $12.00 price objective on shares of KKR Real Estate Finance Trust in a research report on Tuesday, May 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of KKR Real Estate Finance Trust from $10.00 to $9.50 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, July 16th. BTIG Research reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $11.50 target price on shares of KKR Real Estate Finance Trust in a research note on Friday, July 19th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their price target on KKR Real Estate Finance Trust from $9.75 to $11.50 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th.

KKR Real Estate Finance Trust Stock Performance

NYSE:KREF opened at $11.58 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 392.62, a current ratio of 392.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.86. KKR Real Estate Finance Trust has a fifty-two week low of $8.71 and a fifty-two week high of $14.12. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $10.26 and its 200-day simple moving average is $9.88. The stock has a market cap of $802.66 million, a PE ratio of -25.17 and a beta of 0.99.

KKR Real Estate Finance Trust (NYSE:KREF) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 22nd. The company reported ($1.57) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.30 by ($1.87). The firm had revenue of $47.60 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $45.47 million. KKR Real Estate Finance Trust had a return on equity of 9.88% and a net margin of 5.88%. KKR Real Estate Finance Trust’s revenue was down 6.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.48 EPS. Analysts expect that KKR Real Estate Finance Trust will post 1.35 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

KKR Real Estate Finance Trust Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, July 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 28th were paid a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 8.64%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 28th. KKR Real Estate Finance Trust’s dividend payout ratio is currently -217.39%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On KKR Real Estate Finance Trust

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System purchased a new stake in shares of KKR Real Estate Finance Trust during the 4th quarter valued at $385,000. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund increased its stake in KKR Real Estate Finance Trust by 4.6% during the fourth quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund now owns 35,542 shares of the company’s stock worth $470,000 after acquiring an additional 1,571 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its holdings in shares of KKR Real Estate Finance Trust by 2.1% in the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 235,703 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,118,000 after purchasing an additional 4,841 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of KKR Real Estate Finance Trust by 14.9% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 804,214 shares of the company’s stock worth $10,640,000 after purchasing an additional 104,360 shares during the period. Finally, Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of KKR Real Estate Finance Trust during the 4th quarter worth about $180,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.23% of the company’s stock.

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.