KKR Real Estate Finance Trust (NYSE:KREF) Given New $9.75 Price Target at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods

KKR Real Estate Finance Trust (NYSE:KREF) had its price objective trimmed by Keefe, Bruyette & Woods from $10.00 to $9.75 in a research note issued to investors on Friday morning, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a market perform rating on the stock.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently weighed in on KREF. JMP Securities lowered their price target on shares of KKR Real Estate Finance Trust from $14.50 to $13.00 and set a market outperform rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 7th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on shares of KKR Real Estate Finance Trust from $12.00 to $10.50 and set an overweight rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 8th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on shares of KKR Real Estate Finance Trust from $11.50 to $10.00 and set an overweight rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $11.96.

KKR Real Estate Finance Trust Price Performance

Shares of KREF stock opened at $9.62 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.20, a quick ratio of 361.75 and a current ratio of 364.56. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $9.79 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $11.28. KKR Real Estate Finance Trust has a one year low of $9.09 and a one year high of $14.12.

KKR Real Estate Finance Trust (NYSE:KREF) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The company reported $0.39 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.37 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $151.62 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $43.16 million. KKR Real Estate Finance Trust had a negative net margin of 1.39% and a positive return on equity of 10.38%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.48 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that KKR Real Estate Finance Trust will post 1.33 EPS for the current year.

KKR Real Estate Finance Trust Cuts Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 28th were given a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 27th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 10.40%. KKR Real Estate Finance Trust’s payout ratio is -217.39%.

Insider Activity at KKR Real Estate Finance Trust

In other news, COO W Patrick Mattson bought 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 8th. The stock was bought at an average price of $9.72 per share, with a total value of $97,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 308,446 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,998,095.12. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, CEO Matthew A. Salem purchased 26,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 8th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $9.72 per share, with a total value of $252,720.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer now owns 460,309 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,474,203.48. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, COO W Patrick Mattson purchased 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 8th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $9.72 per share, with a total value of $97,200.00. Following the acquisition, the chief operating officer now owns 308,446 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,998,095.12. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 1.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Significant Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of KKR Real Estate Finance Trust in the fourth quarter worth $2,838,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of KKR Real Estate Finance Trust by 18.6% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 699,854 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,307,000 after acquiring an additional 109,995 shares during the period. Swiss National Bank increased its stake in shares of KKR Real Estate Finance Trust by 1.0% in the third quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 129,100 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,532,000 after acquiring an additional 1,300 shares during the period. Penserra Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of KKR Real Estate Finance Trust by 14.4% in the third quarter. Penserra Capital Management LLC now owns 41,787 shares of the company’s stock worth $496,000 after acquiring an additional 5,247 shares during the period. Finally, FMR LLC increased its stake in shares of KKR Real Estate Finance Trust by 3.6% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 226,767 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,692,000 after acquiring an additional 7,926 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.