KKR Real Estate Finance Trust Inc. (NYSE:KREF) Sees Significant Increase in Short Interest

July 17, 2022 Beth McCandry

KKR Real Estate Finance Trust Inc. (NYSE:KREF – Get Rating) was the recipient of a large growth in short interest in the month of June. As of June 30th, there was short interest totaling 1,560,000 shares, a growth of 65.1% from the June 15th total of 944,600 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume of 778,900 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.0 days.

KKR Real Estate Finance Trust Price Performance

Shares of KREF stock traded up $0.28 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $17.97. 347,181 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 739,754. 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 market cap of $1.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.40 and a beta of 0.70. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $18.57 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $19.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.30, a quick ratio of 409.61 and a current ratio of 409.61.

KKR Real Estate Finance Trust (NYSE:KREF – Get Rating) last released its earnings results on Monday, April 25th. The company reported $0.47 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.44 by $0.03. KKR Real Estate Finance Trust had a net margin of 54.74% and a return on equity of 7.90%. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.55 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that KKR Real Estate Finance Trust will post 1.74 earnings per share for the current year.

KKR Real Estate Finance Trust Announces Dividend

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The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, June 30th were given a $0.43 dividend. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 9.57%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, June 29th. KKR Real Estate Finance Trust’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 80.37%.

Insider buying and selling

In related news, major shareholder Reft Holdings LP Kkr sold 4,250,000 shares of KKR Real Estate Finance Trust stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.51, for a total transaction of $82,917,500.00. Following the sale, 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 legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 1.30% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC grew its position in KKR Real Estate Finance Trust by 19.6% during the fourth quarter. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC now owns 3,300 shares of the company’s stock valued at $69,000 after purchasing an additional 540 shares in the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC grew its position in KKR Real Estate Finance Trust by 40.2% during the first quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 1,889 shares of the company’s stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 542 shares in the last quarter. Mutual of America Capital Management LLC grew its position in KKR Real Estate Finance Trust by 12.7% during the fourth quarter. Mutual of America Capital Management LLC now owns 6,066 shares of the company’s stock valued at $126,000 after purchasing an additional 683 shares in the last quarter. Claybrook Capital LLC grew its position in KKR Real Estate Finance Trust by 0.6% during the first quarter. Claybrook Capital LLC now owns 109,146 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,249,000 after purchasing an additional 692 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Strs Ohio grew its position in KKR Real Estate Finance Trust by 9.3% during the fourth quarter. Strs Ohio now owns 8,200 shares of the company’s stock valued at $170,000 after purchasing an additional 700 shares in the last quarter. 78.72% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst’s Set New Price Targets

Separately, JMP Securities decreased their price target on shares of KKR Real Estate Finance Trust from $23.50 to $23.00 and set a “market outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, March 21st.

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.

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