Blackstone Mortgage Trust (NYSE:BXMT) Releases Quarterly Earnings Results, Misses Expectations By $0.10 EPS

Blackstone Mortgage Trust (NYSE:BXMT) posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday. The real estate investment trust reported $0.31 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.41 by ($0.10), FiscalAI reports. The company had revenue of $158.06 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $157.32 million. Blackstone Mortgage Trust had a net margin of 8.75% and a return on equity of 6.11%.

Here are the key takeaways from Blackstone Mortgage Trust’s conference call:

• Distributable earnings before realized gains and losses were $0.48 per share, covering the $0.47 dividend, although GAAP results showed a $0.48-per-share loss and distributable earnings including realized losses were $0.31 per share.
• BXMT received $1.2 billion of repayments and deployed $1.4 billion into newer investments focused on residential, industrial, and net lease assets. Management expects office and pre-2023 loan exposure to decline by at least 40% by year-end.
• Portfolio performance weakened modestly, with 97% of loans performing versus 98% last quarter and three new impairments, including a $345 million Chicago office loan. Higher interest rates are increasing pressure on roughly $1 billion of watchlist loans, primarily lower-cash-flow office assets.
• The company entered homebuilder finance, citing a roughly $200 billion addressable market, reduced bank lending, granular collateral, and expected mid-to-high-teens levered yields. Its net lease portfolio also expanded to $661 million, with more than $150 million of acquisitions closed or pending in July.
• Book value fell 4% to $19.31 per share, largely because of higher CECL reserves and real estate depreciation, while management warned that impairments, repayments, and portfolio-rotation efforts could weigh on third-quarter earnings and may factor into the board’s dividend review.

Blackstone Mortgage Trust Price Performance

NYSE BXMT traded down $1.39 during trading on Thursday, hitting $15.02. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 3,324,480 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,507,436. Blackstone Mortgage Trust has a fifty-two week low of $14.91 and a fifty-two week high of $20.67. The company has a market cap of $2.53 billion, a PE ratio of 24.63 and a beta of 0.90. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $17.57 and its 200-day simple moving average is $18.65.

Blackstone Mortgage Trust Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 30th were issued a $0.47 dividend. This represents a $1.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 12.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, June 30th. Blackstone Mortgage Trust’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 308.20%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have commented on the company. Weiss Ratings downgraded Blackstone Mortgage Trust from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a report on Monday, June 29th. UBS Group started coverage on Blackstone Mortgage Trust in a report on Tuesday, June 2nd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $21.00 target price for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on Blackstone Mortgage Trust from $20.00 to $19.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, July 17th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods cut their price target on Blackstone Mortgage Trust from $20.50 to $20.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, June 26th. Finally, Zacks Research downgraded Blackstone Mortgage Trust from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 22nd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $20.75.

Insider Activity

In related news, President Fernando Austin Pena sold 2,398 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $17.48, for a total value of $41,917.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the president directly owned 74,569 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,303,466.12. This trade represents a 3.12% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Insiders have sold a total of 5,420 shares of company stock worth $95,233 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 1.18% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of BXMT. Jones Financial Companies Lllp lifted its position in Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 45.5% during the 1st quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 1,715 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 536 shares during the period. UMB Bank n.a. raised its stake in shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 151.1% in the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 2,172 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 1,307 shares during the last quarter. Advisory Services Network LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust during the third quarter worth about $46,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 74.6% during the second quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 4,645 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $92,000 after purchasing an additional 1,985 shares during the period. Finally, Quadrant Capital Group LLC purchased a new stake in Blackstone Mortgage Trust in the third quarter valued at approximately $173,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 64.15% of the company’s stock.

Blackstone Mortgage Trust Company Profile

Blackstone Mortgage Trust, Inc (NYSE: BXMT) is a publicly traded real estate finance company that originates, acquires and manages commercial mortgage loans and other CRE debt investments. As an externally managed real estate investment trust (REIT), it seeks to generate attractive risk-adjusted returns through the deployment of senior floating-rate and fixed-rate loans backed by income-producing properties.

The firm’s core business activities span the origination of senior mortgage loans, the acquisition of loan portfolios and other real estate debt instruments, and the active management of those investments.