Healthcare Realty Trust Incorporated (NYSE:HR) Sees Significant Decline in Short Interest

Healthcare Realty Trust Incorporated (NYSE:HR) was the recipient of a significant decline in short interest in March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 9,780,000 shares, a decline of 12.8% from the February 28th total of 11,220,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 2,600,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 3.8 days. Approximately 2.8% of the company’s stock are short sold.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

HR has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut Healthcare Realty Trust from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $19.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered shares of Healthcare Realty Trust from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their price target for the stock from $19.00 to $17.00 in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on Healthcare Realty Trust from $17.00 to $16.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 10th. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and set a $16.00 price target on shares of Healthcare Realty Trust in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Healthcare Realty Trust from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 27th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $17.00.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of HR. Capital Investment Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Healthcare Realty Trust by 31.0% in the 4th quarter. Capital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 469,323 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $7,955,000 after purchasing an additional 111,125 shares during the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Healthcare Realty Trust by 106.4% during the third quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 77,545 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,407,000 after buying an additional 39,975 shares during the period. Proficio Capital Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Healthcare Realty Trust in the fourth quarter valued at $440,000. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC raised its holdings in shares of Healthcare Realty Trust by 3,419.8% in the 4th quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 28,510 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $483,000 after buying an additional 27,700 shares during the period. Finally, Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd acquired a new position in Healthcare Realty Trust during the 3rd quarter worth about $849,000.

Healthcare Realty Trust Stock Up 0.2 %

Shares of HR stock traded up $0.04 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $16.89. 636,834 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,255,416. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $16.67 and a two-hundred day moving average of $17.19. Healthcare Realty Trust has a fifty-two week low of $13.64 and a fifty-two week high of $18.90. The firm has a market cap of $5.93 billion, a P/E ratio of -9.49 and a beta of 0.97.

Healthcare Realty Trust (NYSE:HR) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 19th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.39 by $0.01. Healthcare Realty Trust had a negative net margin of 51.60% and a negative return on equity of 11.20%. The business had revenue of $309.77 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $303.81 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.39 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 6.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that Healthcare Realty Trust will post 1.59 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Healthcare Realty Trust Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 19th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 3rd were given a $0.31 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.34%. Healthcare Realty Trust’s payout ratio is currently -69.66%.

About Healthcare Realty Trust

Healthcare Realty Trust, Inc provides real estate investment services. It owns, leases, manages, acquires, finances, develops, and redevelops income-producing real estate properties associated primarily with the delivery of outpatient healthcare services throughout the United States of America. The company was founded by David R.