Healthcare Realty Trust Incorporated (NYSE:HR) Short Interest Up 32.3% in July

Healthcare Realty Trust Incorporated (NYSE:HR) saw a significant growth in short interest during the month of July. As of July 31st, there was short interest totalling 20,220,000 shares, a growth of 32.3% from the July 15th total of 15,280,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 3,750,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 5.4 days.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently commented on the stock. Scotiabank upped their target price on shares of Healthcare Realty Trust from $17.00 to $18.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered shares of Healthcare Realty Trust from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $17.00 to $16.00 in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. Finally, Wedbush increased their target price on shares of Healthcare Realty Trust from $15.00 to $18.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Healthcare Realty Trust presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $17.00.

Healthcare Realty Trust Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:HR traded down $0.34 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $17.44. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 2,912,501 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,541,990. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $17.14 and its 200-day simple moving average is $15.51. Healthcare Realty Trust has a fifty-two week low of $12.77 and a fifty-two week high of $18.33. The company has a market capitalization of $6.60 billion, a P/E ratio of -13.11 and a beta of 0.89.

Healthcare Realty Trust (NYSE:HR) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, August 2nd. The real estate investment trust reported ($0.39) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.38 by ($0.77). The company had revenue of $316.30 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $317.90 million. Healthcare Realty Trust had a negative net margin of 37.53% and a negative return on equity of 7.22%. Healthcare Realty Trust’s revenue for the quarter was down 6.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.39 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that Healthcare Realty Trust will post 1.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Healthcare Realty Trust Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, August 28th. Investors of record on Monday, August 12th will be issued a $0.31 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, August 12th. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.11%. Healthcare Realty Trust’s dividend payout ratio is currently -93.23%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Thomas N. Bohjalian bought 9,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 12th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $17.39 per share, with a total value of $156,510.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 22,252 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $386,962.28. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 0.56% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Healthcare Realty Trust

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board increased its position in shares of Healthcare Realty Trust by 52.3% during the first 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 in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in Healthcare Realty Trust during the 4th quarter worth about $59,352,000. Waterfront Capital Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Healthcare Realty Trust in the 4th quarter valued at about $51,775,000. APG Asset Management US Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Healthcare Realty Trust by 12.0% in the fourth quarter. APG Asset Management US Inc. now owns 12,566,887 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $216,527,000 after purchasing an additional 1,348,529 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Healthcare Realty Trust by 1.4% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 54,246,277 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $767,585,000 after buying an additional 723,197 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.