Short Interest in Healthcare Realty Trust Incorporated (NYSE:HR) Decreases By 12.8%

Healthcare Realty Trust Incorporated (NYSE:HR) was the recipient of a large drop in short interest in the month of March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 9,780,000 shares, a drop 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 short-interest ratio is currently 3.8 days. Approximately 2.8% of the shares of the stock are sold short.

Healthcare Realty Trust Trading Down 1.2 %

Shares of HR stock opened at $16.65 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.84 billion, a P/E ratio of -9.35 and a beta of 0.97. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $16.67 and its 200 day moving average is $17.18. Healthcare Realty Trust has a 12 month low of $13.64 and a 12 month high of $18.90.

Healthcare Realty Trust (NYSE:HR) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 19th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.40 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 6.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.39 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that Healthcare Realty Trust will post 1.59 EPS for the current year.

Healthcare Realty Trust Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 19th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 3rd were paid a $0.31 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 7.45%. Healthcare Realty Trust’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -69.66%.

Institutional Trading of Healthcare Realty Trust

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Starboard Value LP bought a new position in shares of Healthcare Realty Trust in the fourth quarter worth approximately $342,110,000. Rush Island Management LP boosted its position in Healthcare Realty Trust by 21.2% during the 4th quarter. Rush Island Management LP now owns 15,681,440 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $265,800,000 after buying an additional 2,747,848 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its holdings in Healthcare Realty Trust by 12.0% in the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 4,630,973 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $78,495,000 after acquiring an additional 495,599 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Healthcare Realty Trust in the fourth quarter valued at about $76,825,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp raised its stake in shares of Healthcare Realty Trust by 40.3% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 4,040,969 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $68,494,000 after acquiring an additional 1,159,763 shares during the last quarter.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently issued reports on HR shares. Jefferies Financial Group lowered Healthcare Realty Trust from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $19.00 to $17.00 in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $16.00 target price on shares of Healthcare Realty Trust in a report on Thursday, February 20th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Healthcare Realty Trust from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 27th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on shares of Healthcare Realty Trust from $17.00 to $16.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, March 10th. Finally, Scotiabank reduced their price target on Healthcare Realty Trust from $18.00 to $17.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $17.00.

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.