Wells Fargo & Company Increases KKR Real Estate Finance Trust (NYSE:KREF) Price Target to $14.00

KKR Real Estate Finance Trust (NYSE:KREF) had its price target upped by Wells Fargo & Company from $13.00 to $14.00 in a report released on Friday, Benzinga reports. They currently have an overweight rating on the stock.

KREF has been the subject of several other research reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised shares of KKR Real Estate Finance Trust from a market perform rating to an outperform rating and upped their price objective for the company from $11.50 to $13.00 in a research note on Thursday, September 5th. Raymond James increased their price target on 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. BTIG Research reissued 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. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on KKR Real Estate Finance Trust from $10.00 to $9.50 and set an overweight rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, July 16th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $12.14.

KKR Real Estate Finance Trust Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:KREF opened at $12.68 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.86, a current ratio of 392.62 and a quick ratio of 392.62. KKR Real Estate Finance Trust has a 1 year low of $8.71 and a 1 year high of $14.12. The firm has a market capitalization of $878.90 million, a PE ratio of -27.57 and a beta of 0.99. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $11.45 and its 200-day moving average price is $10.26.

KKR Real Estate Finance Trust (NYSE:KREF) last announced 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). KKR Real Estate Finance Trust had a net margin of 5.88% and a return on equity of 9.88%. The firm had revenue of $47.60 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $45.47 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.48 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 6.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that KKR Real Estate Finance Trust will post 1.35 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

KKR Real Estate Finance Trust Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 30th will be paid a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 7.89%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 30th. KKR Real Estate Finance Trust’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -217.39%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On KKR Real Estate Finance Trust

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Algert Global LLC increased its holdings in KKR Real Estate Finance Trust by 7.2% during the 2nd quarter. Algert Global LLC now owns 88,193 shares of the company’s stock worth $798,000 after purchasing an additional 5,933 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company grew its holdings in shares of KKR Real Estate Finance Trust by 2.5% during the second quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 38,542 shares of the company’s stock worth $349,000 after buying an additional 935 shares during the last quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board grew its stake in shares of KKR Real Estate Finance Trust by 6.1% in the 2nd quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 128,155 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,160,000 after purchasing an additional 7,333 shares during the last quarter. Wedbush Securities Inc. acquired a new position in shares of KKR Real Estate Finance Trust in the second quarter valued at approximately $427,000. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp raised its stake in shares of KKR Real Estate Finance Trust by 31.2% during the second quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 356,891 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,230,000 after purchasing an additional 84,889 shares during the last quarter. 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.