Healthcare Realty Trust (NYSE:HR) Cut to “Sell” at StockNews.com

StockNews.com cut shares of Healthcare Realty Trust (NYSE:HR) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday.

HR has been the topic of several other research reports. Jefferies Financial Group cut shares of Healthcare Realty Trust from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $19.00 to $17.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. Scotiabank lowered their price objective on shares of Healthcare Realty Trust from $18.00 to $17.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $16.00 price objective on shares of Healthcare Realty Trust in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut shares of Healthcare Realty Trust from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $19.00 price objective on the stock. in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $17.20.

Healthcare Realty Trust Trading Up 1.6 %

Healthcare Realty Trust stock opened at $16.78 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $5.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -9.42 and a beta of 0.94. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $16.61 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $17.35. Healthcare Realty Trust has a 52 week low of $12.77 and a 52 week high of $18.90.

Healthcare Realty Trust (NYSE:HR) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 19th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.40 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.39 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $309.77 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $303.81 million. Healthcare Realty Trust had a negative net margin of 51.60% and a negative return on equity of 11.20%. Healthcare Realty Trust’s quarterly revenue was down 6.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.39 EPS. Research analysts expect that Healthcare Realty Trust will post 1.59 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Healthcare Realty Trust Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 19th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 3rd will be given a $0.31 dividend. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 7.39%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 3rd. Healthcare Realty Trust’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently -69.66%.

Insider Transactions at Healthcare Realty Trust

In related news, COO Robert E. Hull sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $17.48, for a total transaction of $174,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 171,400 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,996,072. This trade represents a 5.51 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.56% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Healthcare Realty Trust

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Comprehensive Money Management Services LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Healthcare Realty Trust during the fourth quarter worth approximately $290,000. Employees Retirement System of Texas acquired a new stake in Healthcare Realty Trust in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $3,390,000. AlphaCore Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Healthcare Realty Trust in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $375,000. Mackenzie Financial Corp lifted its stake in Healthcare Realty Trust by 234.9% in the fourth quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 56,987 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $966,000 after acquiring an additional 39,969 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GF Fund Management CO. LTD. acquired a new stake in Healthcare Realty Trust in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $112,000.

Healthcare Realty Trust Company Profile

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.