Global Medical REIT Inc. (NYSE:GMRE) Sees Large Growth in Short Interest

Global Medical REIT Inc. (NYSE:GMRE) was the target of a large increase in short interest in the month of December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 1,140,000 shares, an increase of 8.6% from the December 15th total of 1,050,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 444,500 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.6 days.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, Berenberg Bank started coverage on shares of Global Medical REIT in a report on Friday, October 18th. They set a “buy” rating and a $11.75 price objective for the company.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Global Medical REIT

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in GMRE. Gordian Capital Singapore Pte Ltd bought a new position in shares of Global Medical REIT during the 2nd quarter worth about $100,000. Quantinno Capital Management LP bought a new position in shares of Global Medical REIT during the 3rd quarter worth about $138,000. Zacks Investment Management lifted its holdings in Global Medical REIT by 12.9% during the 3rd quarter. Zacks Investment Management now owns 14,803 shares of the company’s stock valued at $147,000 after purchasing an additional 1,696 shares during the last quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC bought a new position in Global Medical REIT during the 3rd quarter valued at about $150,000. Finally, Versor Investments LP bought a new position in Global Medical REIT during the 3rd quarter valued at about $189,000. 57.52% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Global Medical REIT Stock Performance

Global Medical REIT stock traded down $0.15 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $7.97. The company had a trading volume of 411,042 shares, compared to its average volume of 578,971. The company has a quick ratio of 0.28, a current ratio of 0.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26. Global Medical REIT has a 52 week low of $7.33 and a 52 week high of $10.58. The company has a 50 day moving average of $8.26 and a 200-day moving average of $9.00. The firm has a market cap of $532.66 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -398.50, a PEG ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 1.23.

Global Medical REIT (NYSE:GMRE) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The company reported $0.03 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.21 by ($0.18). Global Medical REIT had a net margin of 3.23% and a return on equity of 0.86%. The company had revenue of $34.26 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $34.88 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.23 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Global Medical REIT will post 0.81 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Global Medical REIT Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 8th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 20th were issued a dividend of $0.21 per share. This represents a $0.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 10.53%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 20th. Global Medical REIT’s payout ratio is -4,197.90%.

About Global Medical REIT

Global Medical REIT Inc (GMRE) is a net-lease medical office real estate investment trust (REIT) that owns and acquires healthcare facilities and leases those facilities to physician groups and regional and national healthcare systems.