KKR Real Estate Finance Trust $KREF Shares Purchased by Teacher Retirement System of Texas

Teacher Retirement System of Texas grew its stake in shares of KKR Real Estate Finance Trust (NYSE:KREF) by 134.1% in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 35,063 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 20,083 shares during the quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas’ holdings in KKR Real Estate Finance Trust were worth $308,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Wedbush Securities Inc. boosted its position in shares of KKR Real Estate Finance Trust by 1.5% in the first quarter. Wedbush Securities Inc. now owns 80,386 shares of the company’s stock worth $868,000 after acquiring an additional 1,199 shares during the last quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue raised its position in shares of KKR Real Estate Finance Trust by 6.0% in the 2nd quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 33,895 shares of the company’s stock worth $296,000 after buying an additional 1,913 shares during the period. Quarry LP acquired a new position in KKR Real Estate Finance Trust in the first quarter valued at $28,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its position in KKR Real Estate Finance Trust by 1.4% during the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 287,754 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,108,000 after acquiring an additional 3,857 shares during the period. Finally, Transce3nd LLC increased its stake in KKR Real Estate Finance Trust by 8.1% during the first quarter. Transce3nd LLC now owns 61,264 shares of the company’s stock worth $660,000 after acquiring an additional 4,610 shares during the last quarter. 70.23% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Christen E.J. Lee bought 10,000 shares of KKR Real Estate Finance Trust stock in a transaction on Friday, November 7th. The shares were bought at an average price of $7.80 per share, with a total value of $78,000.00. Following the acquisition, the director directly owned 229,133 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,787,237.40. This represents a 4.56% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Matthew A. Salem purchased 32,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 6th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $7.84 per share, with a total value of $250,880.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer directly owned 561,825 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,404,708. The trade was a 6.04% increase in their position. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. Over the last three months, insiders bought 55,000 shares of company stock worth $431,710. Corporate insiders own 1.90% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

KREF has been the subject of a number of research reports. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods decreased their target price on KKR Real Estate Finance Trust from $9.50 to $8.75 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 23rd. Zacks Research raised shares of KKR Real Estate Finance Trust from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, September 29th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of KKR Real Estate Finance Trust from $11.00 to $10.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $9.00 target price (down previously from $9.50) on shares of KKR Real Estate Finance Trust in a research note on Monday, October 20th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of KKR Real Estate Finance Trust from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, September 5th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, KKR Real Estate Finance Trust has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $9.94.

KKR Real Estate Finance Trust Stock Up 3.1%

KREF stock opened at $8.27 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 423.43, a quick ratio of 423.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.63. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $8.90 and a 200-day simple moving average of $9.09. The company has a market capitalization of $541.60 million, a P/E ratio of -23.63 and a beta of 0.90. KKR Real Estate Finance Trust has a twelve month low of $7.78 and a twelve month high of $11.98.

KKR Real Estate Finance Trust (NYSE:KREF) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 21st. The company reported ($0.03) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.01 by ($0.04). The company had revenue of $31.41 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $29.90 million. KKR Real Estate Finance Trust had a negative net margin of 0.12% and a negative return on equity of 0.60%. On average, equities research analysts predict that KKR Real Estate Finance Trust will post 1.05 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

KKR Real Estate Finance Trust Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, October 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 30th were paid a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 12.1%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, September 30th. KKR Real Estate Finance Trust’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -285.71%.

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.