Healthcare Realty Trust Incorporated (NYSE:HR) Short Interest Down 6.7% in September

Healthcare Realty Trust Incorporated (NYSE:HR) was the recipient of a significant decline in short interest during the month of September. As of September 30th, there was short interest totalling 13,000,000 shares, a decline of 6.7% from the September 15th total of 13,930,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 3,480,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 3.7 days.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the company. Wells Fargo & Company restated an “underweight” rating and issued a $17.00 target price (up previously from $16.00) on shares of Healthcare Realty Trust in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. Wedbush lifted their target price on Healthcare Realty Trust from $15.00 to $18.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, August 5th. Finally, Scotiabank lifted their target price on Healthcare Realty Trust from $17.00 to $18.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $17.14.

Healthcare Realty Trust Stock Down 0.8 %

NYSE HR traded down $0.15 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $18.04. 387,509 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,483,962. The company has a 50 day moving average of $17.81 and a two-hundred day moving average of $16.61. The firm has a market cap of $6.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -13.68 and a beta of 0.91. 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 quarterly earnings data on Friday, August 2nd. The real estate investment trust reported ($0.39) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.38 by ($0.77). The business had revenue of $316.30 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $317.90 million. Healthcare Realty Trust had a negative return on equity of 8.50% and a negative net margin of 42.79%. The company’s revenue was down 6.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.39 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict that Healthcare Realty Trust will post 1.55 EPS for the current year.

Healthcare Realty Trust Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, August 28th. Investors of record on Monday, August 12th were given a $0.31 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, August 12th. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.87%. Healthcare Realty Trust’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -93.23%.

Insider Transactions at Healthcare Realty Trust

In other news, Director John Knox Singleton purchased 6,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 5th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $18.24 per share, with a total value of $118,560.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 57,082 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,041,175.68. The trade was a 0.00 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. In related news, Director John Knox Singleton acquired 6,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 5th. The shares were bought at an average price of $18.24 per share, with a total value of $118,560.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 57,082 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,041,175.68. This represents a 0.00 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Thomas N. Bohjalian acquired 9,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, August 12th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $17.39 per share, for a total transaction of $156,510.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 22,252 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $386,962.28. The trade was a 0.00 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have bought 15,728 shares of company stock valued at $279,069 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.56% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Healthcare Realty Trust

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Healthcare Realty Trust by 1.4% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 54,246,277 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $767,585,000 after acquiring an additional 723,197 shares during the period. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board lifted its position in Healthcare Realty Trust by 52.3% during the 1st quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 10,942,261 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $154,833,000 after acquiring an additional 3,758,040 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in Healthcare Realty Trust by 7.2% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 5,856,286 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $96,513,000 after acquiring an additional 395,243 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its position in Healthcare Realty Trust by 2.8% during the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 5,782,253 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $81,820,000 after acquiring an additional 158,342 shares during the period. Finally, Thrivent Financial for Lutherans lifted its position in Healthcare Realty Trust by 6.7% during the 2nd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 4,784,186 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $78,843,000 after acquiring an additional 301,747 shares during the period.

Healthcare Realty Trust Company Profile

Healthcare Realty (NYSE: HR) is a real estate investment trust (REIT) that owns and operates medical outpatient buildings primarily located around market-leading hospital campuses. The Company selectively grows its portfolio through property acquisition and development. As the first and largest REIT to specialize in medical outpatient buildings, Healthcare Realty's portfolio includes more than 700 properties totaling over 40 million square feet concentrated in 15 growth markets.