Blackstone Mortgage Trust (NYSE:BXMT) Posts Quarterly Earnings Results, Misses Estimates By $2.29 EPS

Blackstone Mortgage Trust (NYSE:BXMT) released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday. The real estate investment trust reported ($2.07) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.22 by ($2.29), FiscalAI reports. Blackstone Mortgage Trust had a net margin of 7.53% and a return on equity of 4.06%. The company had revenue of $159.32 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $108.24 million.

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

• The loan portfolio is now 99% performing; management resolved roughly $575 million of impaired loans in Q4, reduced impaired balances to under $90 million, and distributable earnings prior to charge-offs covered the quarterly dividend for the second consecutive quarter.
• BXMT strengthened its funding profile by executing over $5 billion of corporate and securitized debt transactions (including $2.8 billion of term loan repricings), which lowered weighted-average borrowing spreads by ~90 bps, issued a $1 billion CLO, finished the year with $1 billion of liquidity and no maturities until 2027, and repurchased about $140 million of stock since July 2024.
• Management is diversifying the portfolio into multifamily, industrial, net lease, and discounted bank-loan portfolios; the portfolio is roughly 50% multifamily/industrial, net lease and acquired bank loans now represent ~5% of the portfolio, and repayments from discounted bank-loan purchases have already contributed to returns.
• Results included significant reserve activity—GAAP net income was $0.24 per share but distributable earnings were -$2.07 per share after $434 million of reserve charge-offs (CECL reserves fell ~60% QoQ)—and BXMT still holds $1.3 billion of owned real estate (carried at ~50% discounts) and hotels/REO that could weigh on near-term returns until dispositions occur.

Blackstone Mortgage Trust Trading Up 1.8%

Blackstone Mortgage Trust stock traded up $0.35 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $19.96. 699,425 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,450,266. Blackstone Mortgage Trust has a one year low of $16.51 and a one year high of $21.24. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $19.63 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $19.13. The company has a market cap of $3.35 billion, a PE ratio of 32.09 and a beta of 1.07.

Blackstone Mortgage Trust Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, December 31st were issued a $0.47 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, December 31st. This represents a $1.88 annualized dividend and a yield of 9.4%. Blackstone Mortgage Trust’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 303.23%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on BXMT. BTIG Research reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $23.00 target price on shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust in a research note on Tuesday. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $20.00 to $21.00 in a research report on Monday, November 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust from $19.00 to $20.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 4th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Blackstone Mortgage Trust has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $21.00.

Insider Activity at Blackstone Mortgage Trust

In related news, President Fernando Austin Pena sold 3,131 shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $19.24, for a total transaction of $60,240.44. Following the sale, the president directly owned 78,633 shares in the company, valued at $1,512,898.92. The trade was a 3.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In the last three months, insiders sold 5,049 shares of company stock valued at $98,716. Company insiders own 1.02% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Blackstone Mortgage Trust

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Jones Financial Companies Lllp increased its stake in shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 45.5% during the first quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 1,715 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 536 shares in the last quarter. Advisory Services Network LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $46,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC increased its position in Blackstone Mortgage Trust by 74.6% during the 2nd quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 4,645 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $92,000 after buying an additional 1,985 shares in the last quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC purchased a new position in Blackstone Mortgage Trust during the third quarter valued at $173,000. Finally, Pacific Sun Financial Corp purchased a new position in Blackstone Mortgage Trust during the third quarter valued at $186,000. Institutional investors own 64.15% of the company’s stock.

About Blackstone Mortgage Trust

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.