Carson Block’s Call of Mortgage REIT Pain Starts Coming True

Blackstone Mortgage Trust Inc.’s move to slash its dividend 24% is starting to hand a win to short seller Carson Block, who zeroed in on the lender as one likely to get swept up in the commercial-property fallout.

While Block predicted last year that the mortgage trust would have to cut its dividend by at least half — more than the reduction announced Wednesday — his bet looks prescient. Shares of Blackstone Mortgage Trust, also known as BXMT, fell about 11% Wednesday at 3:16 p.m. in New York, the biggest drop in more than four years.