KKR Real Estate Finance Trust Inc. to Issue Quarterly Dividend of $0.25 (NYSE:KREF)

KKR Real Estate Finance Trust Inc. (NYSE:KREF) declared a quarterly dividend on Friday, September 13th, Wall Street Journal reports. Investors of record on Monday, September 30th will be paid a dividend of 0.25 per share on Tuesday, October 15th. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 8.02%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 30th.

KKR Real Estate Finance Trust has a dividend payout ratio of 77.5% meaning its dividend is currently covered by earnings, but may not be in the future if the company’s earnings tumble. Analysts expect KKR Real Estate Finance Trust to earn $1.19 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.00 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 84.0%.

KKR Real Estate Finance Trust Price Performance

NYSE:KREF opened at $12.47 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $864.35 million, a P/E ratio of -27.11 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.86, a quick ratio of 392.62 and a current ratio of 392.62. 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 has a 50-day simple moving average of $11.66 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $10.33.

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

KREF has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded shares of 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 note on Thursday, September 5th. BTIG Research restated a “buy” rating and set a $11.50 price objective on shares of KKR Real Estate Finance Trust in a research note on Friday, July 19th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of KKR Real Estate Finance Trust from $13.00 to $14.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Raymond James raised their price target on shares of KKR Real Estate Finance Trust from $13.00 to $14.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, September 19th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on shares of KKR Real Estate Finance Trust from $10.00 to $9.50 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, July 16th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $12.14.

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.