KREF KKR Real Estate Finance Trust Inc.
Last updated: May 11, 2026
Execution Consistency
Did the company actually spend money buying back stock in 3+ of the last 4 quarters?
Bought back stock in only 1/4 quarters. Q1 2026: $10M, Q3 2025: $0M, Q2 2025: $0M, Q1 2025: $0M
Execution Acceleration
Is the most recent quarter's buyback spend more than 15% above the trailing average?
New buyback activity: $10M after no prior spending
Buyback vs FCF
What percentage of free cash flow is going to buybacks? Bull: 30%+. Bear: negative FCF or no buybacks.
Negative FCF ($-36M), buybacks not supported by cash flow
Buyback Intensity
How fast are they shrinking the float? Bull: 2%+ annually. Bear: under 0.5%.
Repurchased 7,550,079 shares = 11.7% of 64,367,737 outstanding (annualized)
Insider Buying
Are officers and directors buying stock with their own money on the open market?
6 open-market purchases by 4 insiders
- Salem Matthew A (Chief Executive Officer) bought 60,000 shares at $6.04 on 2026-04-24
- Mattson W Patrick (President, COO and Secretary) bought 40,000 shares at $6.03 on 2026-04-24
- Lee Christen E.J. () bought 10,000 shares at $7.80 on 2025-11-07
- AHERN TERRANCE R () bought 23,700 shares at $7.81 on 2025-11-06
- Mattson W Patrick (President and COO) bought 13,000 shares at $7.91 on 2025-11-06
- Salem Matthew A (Chief Executive Officer) bought 32,000 shares at $7.84 on 2025-11-06
Insider-Buyback Convergence
Are both company buybacks and insider buying independently active? Bull when the company is buying back stock in 2+ quarters and insiders have made 2+ open-market purchases.
6 insider purchases but company buybacks inactive
Insider Net Direction
Over the last 90 days, are insiders net buyers or net sellers on the open market?
Insiders bought $1M, sold $0M in the last 90 days (net buying)
Red Flag
Active buyback + insiders net selling 3x+ more than buying. Company cash may be supporting price while insiders exit.
No buyback-insider divergence detected