Short Interest in KKR Real Estate Finance Trust Inc. (NYSE:KREF) Drops By 13.4%

KKR Real Estate Finance Trust Inc. (NYSE:KREF) was the recipient of a significant drop in short interest in August. As of August 31st, there was short interest totalling 1,230,000 shares, a drop of 13.4% from the August 15th total of 1,420,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 532,600 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.3 days.

Institutional Trading of KKR Real Estate Finance Trust

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company boosted its position in shares of KKR Real Estate Finance Trust by 2.5% during the second quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 38,542 shares of the company’s stock valued at $349,000 after buying an additional 935 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its stake in KKR Real Estate Finance Trust by 17.3% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 16,846 shares of the company’s stock worth $170,000 after purchasing an additional 2,481 shares during the period. TFO Wealth Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of KKR Real Estate Finance Trust by 21,842.9% during the fourth quarter. TFO Wealth Partners LLC now owns 3,072 shares of the company’s stock worth $41,000 after purchasing an additional 3,058 shares during the last quarter. Triumph Capital Management boosted its stake in shares of KKR Real Estate Finance Trust by 18.5% during the first quarter. Triumph Capital Management now owns 20,075 shares of the company’s stock valued at $198,000 after purchasing an additional 3,138 shares during the period. Finally, Future Financial Wealth Managment LLC bought a new position in shares of KKR Real Estate Finance Trust in the first quarter worth about $40,000. 70.23% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

KKR Real Estate Finance Trust Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:KREF traded up $0.01 on Wednesday, reaching $12.60. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 499,318 shares, compared to its average volume of 541,828. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $11.21 and a 200 day simple moving average of $10.18. KKR Real Estate Finance Trust has a 52-week low of $8.71 and a 52-week high of $14.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.86, a quick ratio of 392.62 and a current ratio of 392.62. The company has a market cap of $873.36 million, a P/E ratio of -27.39 and a beta of 0.99.

KKR Real Estate Finance Trust (NYSE:KREF) last released 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). KKR Real Estate Finance Trust had a return on equity of 9.88% and a net margin of 5.88%. The company had revenue of $47.60 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $45.47 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.48 EPS. The company’s revenue was down 6.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that KKR Real Estate Finance Trust will post 1.35 EPS for the current fiscal year.

KKR Real Estate Finance Trust Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Investors of record on Monday, September 30th will be issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 30th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.94%. KKR Real Estate Finance Trust’s payout ratio is presently -217.39%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

KREF has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on shares of KKR Real Estate Finance Trust from $10.00 to $9.50 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, July 16th. JMP Securities reiterated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $12.00 price target on shares of KKR Real Estate Finance Trust in a research note on Tuesday, May 21st. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded KKR Real Estate Finance Trust from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $11.50 to $13.00 in a research report on Thursday, September 5th. Finally, BTIG Research reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $11.50 target price on shares of KKR Real Estate Finance Trust in a research report on Friday, July 19th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $11.71.

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.