Blackstone Mortgage Trust (NYSE:BXMT) Announces Earnings Results, Beats Estimates By $0.04 EPS

Blackstone Mortgage Trust (NYSE:BXMT) announced its earnings results on Wednesday. The real estate investment trust reported $0.51 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.47 by $0.04, Zacks reports. Blackstone Mortgage Trust had a net margin of 0.24% and a return on equity of 10.72%. The business had revenue of $466.15 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $131.87 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.75 earnings per share.

Blackstone Mortgage Trust Stock Performance

BXMT stock traded up $0.06 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $17.41. The company had a trading volume of 3,715,533 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,145,769. The firm has a market cap of $3.02 billion, a PE ratio of 582.67 and a beta of 1.49. Blackstone Mortgage Trust has a 12 month low of $16.70 and a 12 month high of $23.82. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $17.90 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $18.94.

Blackstone Mortgage Trust Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Investors of record on Monday, September 30th will be given a dividend of $0.47 per share. This represents a $1.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 10.80%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 30th. Blackstone Mortgage Trust’s payout ratio is currently 8,266.67%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have commented on BXMT shares. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust from $20.00 to $19.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday. Wolfe Research started coverage on shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust in a report on Tuesday, June 25th. They issued a “peer perform” rating for the company. UBS Group reduced their price target on shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust from $21.00 to $19.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 25th. BTIG Research restated a “buy” rating and issued a $23.00 price target on shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust in a report on Friday, July 19th. Finally, JMP Securities restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust in a report on Tuesday. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $19.93.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Katharine A. Keenan sold 2,259 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $17.04, for a total value of $38,493.36. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 189,764 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,233,578.56. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, CEO Katharine A. Keenan sold 2,259 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $17.04, for a total transaction of $38,493.36. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 189,764 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,233,578.56. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Katharine A. Keenan sold 2,296 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $17.04, for a total transaction of $39,123.84. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 187,468 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,194,454.72. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 11,057 shares of company stock valued at $191,141. Company insiders own 0.93% of the company’s stock.

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.