KKR Real Estate Finance Trust Inc. (NYSE:KREF) Short Interest Update

KKR Real Estate Finance Trust Inc. (NYSE:KREF) was the recipient of a large growth in short interest during the month of November. As of November 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,200,000 shares, a growth of 11.1% from the October 31st total of 1,080,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 458,100 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.6 days.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on KREF shares. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised shares of KKR Real Estate Finance Trust from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $11.50 to $13.00 in a research report on Thursday, September 5th. Raymond James cut their price objective on shares of KKR Real Estate Finance Trust from $14.00 to $13.50 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on KKR Real Estate Finance Trust from $13.00 to $14.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, September 20th. JMP Securities upped their price target on KKR Real Estate Finance Trust from $12.50 to $13.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on KKR Real Estate Finance Trust from $11.50 to $12.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to MarketBeat, KKR Real Estate Finance Trust currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $12.83.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On KKR Real Estate Finance Trust

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co boosted its stake in KKR Real Estate Finance Trust by 44.1% in the first quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 72,930 shares of the company’s stock worth $733,000 after purchasing an additional 22,312 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its holdings in shares of KKR Real Estate Finance Trust by 17.3% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 16,846 shares of the company’s stock valued at $170,000 after buying an additional 2,481 shares during the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC acquired a new position in KKR Real Estate Finance Trust during the 2nd quarter worth about $138,000. TrueMark Investments LLC bought a new stake in KKR Real Estate Finance Trust during the 2nd quarter worth about $1,305,000. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp increased its position in KKR Real Estate Finance Trust by 31.2% in the 2nd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 356,891 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,230,000 after acquiring an additional 84,889 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.23% of the company’s stock.

KKR Real Estate Finance Trust Price Performance

KREF traded up $0.09 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $11.72. 398,063 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 523,311. The company has a quick ratio of 277.63, a current ratio of 277.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.75. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $11.82 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $10.95. The firm has a market capitalization of $815.36 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -38.83 and a beta of 0.99. KKR Real Estate Finance Trust has a one year low of $8.71 and a one year high of $14.12.

KKR Real Estate Finance Trust (NYSE:KREF) last posted its earnings results on Monday, October 21st. The company reported $0.37 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.34 by $0.03. KKR Real Estate Finance Trust had a return on equity of 9.46% and a net margin of 0.40%. The business had revenue of $140.15 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $39.52 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.47 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that KKR Real Estate Finance Trust will post 1.4 EPS for the current year.

KKR Real Estate Finance Trust Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 30th were issued a $0.25 dividend. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 8.53%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 30th. KKR Real Estate Finance Trust’s payout ratio is -333.32%.

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.