KKR Real Estate Finance Trust Inc. (NYSE:KREF – Get Rating) was the recipient of a large increase in short interest in November. As of November 30th, there was short interest totalling 2,440,000 shares, an increase of 6.6% from the November 15th total of 2,290,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 575,400 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 4.2 days.
Analysts Set New Price Targets
A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on KREF shares. JMP Securities reduced their target price on KKR Real Estate Finance Trust from $22.00 to $19.00 and set a “market outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, October 25th. Raymond James reduced their target price on KKR Real Estate Finance Trust from $23.50 to $20.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, October 18th. TheStreet downgraded KKR Real Estate Finance Trust from a “b-” rating to a “c” rating in a report on Monday, October 24th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods downgraded KKR Real Estate Finance Trust to a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on KKR Real Estate Finance Trust from $21.00 to $20.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, October 24th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $20.00.
KKR Real Estate Finance Trust Trading Down 4.8 %
NYSE:KREF traded down $0.73 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $14.55. 1,912,833 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 595,612. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.10 and a beta of 0.75. The company has a current ratio of 309.42, a quick ratio of 309.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.69. KKR Real Estate Finance Trust has a one year low of $14.46 and a one year high of $22.44. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $16.61 and a 200 day simple moving average of $17.90.
KKR Real Estate Finance Trust Announces Dividend
The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 13th. Investors of record on Friday, December 30th will be given a dividend of $0.43 per share. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 11.82%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, December 29th. KKR Real Estate Finance Trust’s dividend payout ratio is currently 273.02%.
Institutional Inflows and Outflows
Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of KREF. BlackRock Inc. raised its position in KKR Real Estate Finance Trust by 11.6% during the 3rd quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 9,731,452 shares of the company’s stock worth $158,136,000 after purchasing an additional 1,013,755 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of KKR Real Estate Finance Trust by 15.5% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,422,793 shares of the company’s stock worth $91,154,000 after acquiring an additional 592,973 shares in the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. raised its position in shares of KKR Real Estate Finance Trust by 43.0% in the 1st quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 1,729,030 shares of the company’s stock worth $35,635,000 after acquiring an additional 519,584 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its position in shares of KKR Real Estate Finance Trust by 31.7% in the 2nd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,608,417 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,067,000 after acquiring an additional 387,366 shares in the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp raised its position in shares of KKR Real Estate Finance Trust by 16.5% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,974,815 shares of the company’s stock worth $32,930,000 after acquiring an additional 280,400 shares in the last quarter. 74.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.
KKR Real Estate Finance Trust Company Profile
KKR Real Estate Finance Trust Inc, a mortgage real estate investment trust, focuses primarily on originating and acquiring 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 mortgage loans, and commercial mortgage-backed securities.
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