KKR Real Estate Finance Trust Inc. (NYSE:KREF) Short Interest Up 10.1% in July

KKR Real Estate Finance Trust Inc. (NYSE:KREF – Get Rating) saw a large increase in short interest in the month of July. As of July 31st, there was short interest totaling 1,850,000 shares, an increase of 10.1% from the July 15th total of 1,680,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 740,800 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.5 days.

Insider Activity at KKR Real Estate Finance Trust

In other news, major shareholder Reft Holdings LP Kkr sold 4,250,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $19.51, for a total transaction of $82,917,500.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 10,000,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $195,100,000. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 1.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of KKR Real Estate Finance Trust

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Wall Street Access Asset Management LLC raised its stake in KKR Real Estate Finance Trust by 7.9% during the 2nd quarter. Wall Street Access Asset Management LLC now owns 17,346 shares of the company’s stock valued at $302,000 after acquiring an additional 1,271 shares during the last quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. raised its stake in KKR Real Estate Finance Trust by 34.2% during the 2nd quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. now owns 175,806 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,068,000 after acquiring an additional 44,830 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its stake in KKR Real Estate Finance Trust by 14.3% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,694,415 shares of the company’s stock valued at $30,279,000 after acquiring an additional 212,433 shares during the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC purchased a new stake in KKR Real Estate Finance Trust during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $277,000. Finally, Voya Investment Management LLC raised its stake in KKR Real Estate Finance Trust by 137.7% during the 2nd quarter. Voya Investment Management LLC now owns 161,211 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,812,000 after acquiring an additional 93,388 shares during the last quarter. 78.72% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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Separately, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on KKR Real Estate Finance Trust to $22.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 27th.

KKR Real Estate Finance Trust Trading Down 0.2%

NYSE:KREF traded down $0.04 on Tuesday, reaching $19.83. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 350,752 shares, compared to its average volume of 618,761. KKR Real Estate Finance Trust has a 12-month low of $16.47 and a 12-month high of $23.40. The company has a quick ratio of 430.34, a current ratio of 430.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.57. The firm has a market cap of $1.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.46 and a beta of 0.73. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $18.35 and a 200 day moving average price of $19.62.

KKR Real Estate Finance Trust (NYSE:KREF – Get Rating) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 25th. The company reported $0.48 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.41 by $0.07. KKR Real Estate Finance Trust had a return on equity of 7.74% and a net margin of 48.10%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.54 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that KKR Real Estate Finance Trust will post 1.91 EPS for the current fiscal year.

KKR Real Estate Finance Trust Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, June 30th were given a $0.43 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, June 29th. This represents a $1.72 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 8.67%. KKR Real Estate Finance Trust’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 90.53%.

KKR Real Estate Finance Trust Company Profile

(Get Rating)

KKR Real Estate Finance Trust Inc, a mortgage real estate investment trust, focuses primarily on originating and acquiring 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 mortgage loans, and commercial mortgage-backed securities.

Further Reading

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