Americold Realty Trust (NYSE:COLD) Sees Unusually-High Trading Volume – Should You Buy?

Americold Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:COLD) shares saw unusually-high trading volume on Thursday . Approximately 5,823,634 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 192% from the previous session’s volume of 1,995,654 shares.The stock last traded at $23.34 and had previously closed at $22.45.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have weighed in on the company. Barclays cut their price target on Americold Realty Trust from $28.00 to $26.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, November 18th. Scotiabank cut their price objective on shares of Americold Realty Trust from $31.00 to $27.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Citigroup lowered their target price on Americold Realty Trust from $30.00 to $25.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Truist Financial dropped their price objective on Americold Realty Trust from $33.00 to $30.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. Finally, Robert W. Baird dropped their price target on Americold Realty Trust from $31.00 to $28.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 8th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $29.17.

Americold Realty Trust Stock Performance

The business’s 50 day moving average is $21.56 and its two-hundred day moving average is $24.60. The company has a market cap of $6.55 billion, a PE ratio of -67.81, a PEG ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 0.61. The company has a current ratio of 0.15, a quick ratio of 0.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11.

Americold Realty Trust (NYSE:COLD) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The company reported $0.37 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.10 by $0.27. Americold Realty Trust had a negative net margin of 3.54% and a negative return on equity of 2.70%. The business had revenue of $666.44 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $684.03 million. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Americold Realty Trust, Inc. will post 1.47 EPS for the current year.

Americold Realty Trust Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st were paid a $0.22 dividend. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.82%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 31st. Americold Realty Trust’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -258.82%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Robert E. Harris sold 1,836 shares of Americold Realty Trust stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $22.64, for a total value of $41,567.04. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 1,837 shares in the company, valued at $41,589.68. This trade represents a 49.99 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.17% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Americold Realty Trust

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Arizona State Retirement System raised its holdings in shares of Americold Realty Trust by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 78,343 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,677,000 after buying an additional 644 shares during the period. Moors & Cabot Inc. increased its stake in Americold Realty Trust by 4.0% during the 3rd quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. now owns 18,040 shares of the company’s stock valued at $510,000 after buying an additional 700 shares during the period. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina raised its holdings in shares of Americold Realty Trust by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 124,940 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,674,000 after purchasing an additional 780 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV raised its holdings in shares of Americold Realty Trust by 12.8% during the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 7,452 shares of the company’s stock valued at $211,000 after acquiring an additional 845 shares during the period. Finally, MML Investors Services LLC grew its holdings in shares of Americold Realty Trust by 1.8% during the 3rd quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 48,558 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,373,000 after acquiring an additional 882 shares in the last quarter. 98.14% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Americold Realty Trust Company Profile

Americold Realty Trust, Inc is a real estate investment trust, which focuses on the ownership, operation, development, and acquisition of temperature-controlled warehouses. It operates through the following segments: Warehouse, Third-Party Managed, Transportation, and Other. The Warehouse segment collects rent and storage fees from customers to store frozen and perishable food and other products within the firm’s real estate portfolio.