KKR Real Estate Finance Trust Inc. (NYSE:KREF) Announces $0.25 Quarterly Dividend

KKR Real Estate Finance Trust Inc. (NYSE:KREF) declared a quarterly dividend on Tuesday, June 10th, RTT News reports. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 30th will be given a dividend of 0.25 per share on Tuesday, July 15th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 10.52%.

KKR Real Estate Finance Trust has a payout ratio of 107.5% indicating that the company cannot currently cover its dividend with earnings alone and is relying on its balance sheet to cover its dividend payments. Equities research analysts expect KKR Real Estate Finance Trust to earn $1.08 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.00 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 92.6%.

KKR Real Estate Finance Trust Trading Up 1.2%

Shares of KREF stock traded up $0.12 on Wednesday, hitting $9.51. The stock had a trading volume of 67,400 shares, compared to its average volume of 514,606. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $9.13 and its 200-day moving average price is $10.24. KKR Real Estate Finance Trust has a 1 year low of $8.28 and a 1 year high of $12.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.50, a current ratio of 296.16 and a quick ratio of 296.16. The firm has a market capitalization of $644.50 million, a P/E ratio of 52.76 and a beta of 0.92.

KKR Real Estate Finance Trust (NYSE:KREF) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 23rd. The company reported ($0.15) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.17 by ($0.32). The business had revenue of $31.34 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $34.77 million. KKR Real Estate Finance Trust had a net margin of 6.30% and a return on equity of 8.53%. Analysts anticipate that KKR Real Estate Finance Trust will post 1.05 earnings per share for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On KKR Real Estate Finance Trust

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Acadian Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of KKR Real Estate Finance Trust in the first quarter valued at approximately $66,000. Strs Ohio acquired a new position in KKR Real Estate Finance Trust in the first quarter valued at about $123,000. Caxton Associates LLP bought a new stake in KKR Real Estate Finance Trust in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $288,000. Jane Street Group LLC increased its position in shares of KKR Real Estate Finance Trust by 72.1% during the 1st quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 172,162 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,859,000 after purchasing an additional 72,140 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC increased its stake in shares of KKR Real Estate Finance Trust by 317.2% during the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 204,589 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,210,000 after purchasing an additional 155,553 shares during the last quarter. 70.23% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have commented on KREF. JMP Securities reiterated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $12.00 price target on shares of KKR Real Estate Finance Trust in a research note on Tuesday, May 20th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut KKR Real Estate Finance Trust from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and set a $10.75 target price on the stock. in a research report on Monday, April 7th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on KKR Real Estate Finance Trust from $11.50 to $9.50 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, KKR Real Estate Finance Trust has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $11.88.

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.