Blackstone Mortgage Trust, Inc. (NYSE:BXMT) Plans $0.47 Quarterly Dividend

Blackstone Mortgage Trust, Inc. (NYSE:BXMT) announced a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, July 24th, Zacks reports. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 30th will be paid a dividend of 0.47 per share by the real estate investment trust on Tuesday, October 15th. This represents a $1.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 9.62%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 30th.

Blackstone Mortgage Trust has increased its dividend payment by an average of 6.4% annually over the last three years. Blackstone Mortgage Trust has a dividend payout ratio of 132.4% indicating that the company cannot currently cover its dividend with earnings alone and is relying on its balance sheet to cover its dividend payments. Research analysts expect Blackstone Mortgage Trust to earn $1.57 per share next year, which means the company may not be able to cover its $1.88 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 119.7%.

Blackstone Mortgage Trust Price Performance

Shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust stock opened at $19.54 on Friday. Blackstone Mortgage Trust has a 1 year low of $16.53 and a 1 year high of $23.29. The stock has a market cap of $3.39 billion, a PE ratio of 651.33 and a beta of 1.49. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $18.34 and a 200 day moving average price of $18.36.

Blackstone Mortgage Trust (NYSE:BXMT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 24th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.51 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.47 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $466.15 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $131.87 million. Blackstone Mortgage Trust had a positive return on equity of 10.16% and a negative net margin of 7.98%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.75 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Blackstone Mortgage Trust will post 1.94 EPS for the current year.

Blackstone Mortgage Trust announced that its board has approved a share buyback plan on Wednesday, July 24th that allows the company to buyback $150.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the real estate investment trust to purchase up to 4.3% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are often a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have commented on the company. Wolfe Research began coverage on Blackstone Mortgage Trust in a report on Tuesday, June 25th. They issued a “peer perform” rating on the stock. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reissued a “market perform” rating and issued a $18.00 price target on shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust in a research note on Tuesday, June 18th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust from $19.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th. BTIG Research reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $23.00 target price on shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust in a research report on Friday, July 19th. Finally, JMP Securities restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $20.08.

Insider Activity at Blackstone Mortgage Trust

In other news, Director Henry N. Nassau bought 10,000 shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 8th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $17.52 per share, with a total value of $175,200.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 165,557 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,900,558.64. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, Director Timothy Steven Johnson bought 57,050 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 2nd. The stock was bought at an average cost of $17.50 per share, with a total value of $998,375.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 423,251 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,406,892.50. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Henry N. Nassau purchased 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 8th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $17.52 per share, for a total transaction of $175,200.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 165,557 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,900,558.64. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders bought 83,050 shares of company stock valued at $1,448,135 and sold 1,495 shares valued at $27,899. 0.93% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

About Blackstone Mortgage Trust

Blackstone Mortgage Trust, Inc, a real estate finance company, originates senior loans collateralized by commercial properties in North America, Europe, and Australia. The company originates and acquires senior floating rate mortgage loans that are secured by a first-priority mortgage on commercial real estate assets.