Blackstone Mortgage Trust, Inc. Announces Quarterly Dividend of $0.62 (NYSE:BXMT)

Blackstone Mortgage Trust, Inc. (NYSE:BXMT – Get Rating) announced a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, March 15th, Zacks reports. Investors of record on Friday, March 31st will be given a dividend of 0.62 per share by the real estate investment trust on Friday, April 14th. This represents a $2.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 13.75%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, March 30th.

Blackstone Mortgage Trust has a dividend payout ratio of 88.9% indicating that its dividend is currently covered by earnings, but may not be in the future if the company’s earnings fall. Analysts expect Blackstone Mortgage Trust to earn $2.69 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $2.48 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 92.2%.

Blackstone Mortgage Trust Stock Up 0.2 %

NYSE:BXMT opened at $18.04 on Friday. Blackstone Mortgage Trust has a fifty-two week low of $17.30 and a fifty-two week high of $32.90. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $22.17 and its two-hundred day moving average is $23.83. The company has a market cap of $3.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.62 and a beta of 1.34.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on BXMT shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods downgraded Blackstone Mortgage Trust from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and set a $26.00 price objective on the stock. in a report on Thursday, December 15th. Citigroup reduced their target price on shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust from $28.00 to $24.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 13th. TheStreet downgraded Blackstone Mortgage Trust from a “b-” rating to a “c+” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 6th. Finally, StockNews.com began coverage on Blackstone Mortgage Trust in a research note on Thursday. They set a “hold” rating on the stock. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $26.50.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Blackstone Mortgage Trust news, Director Michael B. Nash bought 50,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 13th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $18.86 per share, for a total transaction of $943,000.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 468,455 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,835,061.30. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, Director Michael B. Nash purchased 50,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 13th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $18.86 per share, for a total transaction of $943,000.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 468,455 shares in the company, valued at $8,835,061.30. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Henry N. Nassau purchased 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 15th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $17.81 per share, for a total transaction of $178,100.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 127,348 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,268,067.88. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 1.06% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Blackstone Mortgage Trust

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in BXMT. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 15,544,123 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $362,800,000 after buying an additional 162,232 shares during the period. State Street Corp boosted its stake in Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 1.8% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,483,000 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $83,443,000 after acquiring an additional 62,812 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 4.1% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,196,811 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $46,506,000 after purchasing an additional 86,613 shares during the last quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. raised its position in shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 17.6% during the 1st quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 1,848,316 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $57,950,000 after purchasing an additional 277,202 shares during the period. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 4.5% in the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,543,226 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $32,670,000 after purchasing an additional 67,124 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 54.01% of the company’s stock.

About Blackstone Mortgage Trust

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Blackstone Mortgage Trust, Inc is a real estate finance company, which engages in originating senior loans collateralized by commercial real estate. Its investment objective is to preserve and protect shareholder capital while producing risk-adjusted returns primarily through dividends generated from current income from its loan portfolio.