Stock Traders Buy High Volume of Put Options on Community Healthcare Trust (NYSE:CHCT)

Community Healthcare Trust Incorporated (NYSE:CHCT) saw unusually large options trading activity on Monday. Stock traders bought 6,854 put options on the stock. This is an increase of 6,894% compared to the average daily volume of 98 put options.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CHCT has been the topic of a number of research reports. Robert W. Baird lowered their price target on Community Healthcare Trust from $29.00 to $25.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Piper Sandler dropped their price target on shares of Community Healthcare Trust from $21.00 to $18.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, September 9th. Truist Financial cut their price objective on Community Healthcare Trust from $30.00 to $22.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 30th. Evercore ISI raised shares of Community Healthcare Trust from an “underperform” rating to an “inline” rating and cut their target price for the company from $21.00 to $18.00 in a research note on Monday. Finally, StockNews.com cut Community Healthcare Trust from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $20.75.

Community Healthcare Trust Stock Performance

Shares of CHCT traded up $0.03 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $17.41. The company had a trading volume of 300,671 shares, compared to its average volume of 227,477. The stock has a market capitalization of $482.27 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.22, a P/E/G ratio of 1.11 and a beta of 0.69. Community Healthcare Trust has a 52-week low of $15.06 and a 52-week high of $32.67. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $20.88 and a 200-day moving average price of $23.39.

Community Healthcare Trust Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 23rd. Investors of record on Friday, August 9th were issued a $0.4625 dividend. This is a positive change from Community Healthcare Trust’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. This represents a $1.85 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 10.63%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 9th. Community Healthcare Trust’s payout ratio is presently 289.06%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Robert Z. Hensley purchased 6,500 shares of Community Healthcare Trust stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 5th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $19.50 per share, for a total transaction of $126,750.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 70,670 shares in the company, valued at $1,378,065. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, Director Robert Z. Hensley acquired 6,500 shares of Community Healthcare Trust stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 5th. The stock was bought at an average price of $19.50 per share, with a total value of $126,750.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 70,670 shares in the company, valued at $1,378,065. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO David H. Dupuy acquired 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 5th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $19.48 per share, for a total transaction of $194,800.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 363,565 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,082,246.20. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 4.00% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of CHCT. Russell Investments Group Ltd. increased its position in Community Healthcare Trust by 27.8% during the first quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 364,844 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $9,687,000 after acquiring an additional 79,421 shares during the last quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System purchased a new position in Community Healthcare Trust during the first quarter valued at $933,000. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Community Healthcare Trust by 1.8% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,951,903 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $78,373,000 after purchasing an additional 53,282 shares during the period. Peregrine Capital Management LLC increased its position in Community Healthcare Trust by 15.5% in the second quarter. Peregrine Capital Management LLC now owns 246,109 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $5,756,000 after buying an additional 33,008 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Community Healthcare Trust by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 142,167 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $3,787,000 after buying an additional 2,206 shares during the period. 87.84% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Community Healthcare Trust Company Profile

Community Healthcare Trust Incorporated is a real estate investment trust that focuses on owning income-producing real estate properties associated primarily with the delivery of outpatient healthcare services in our target sub-markets throughout the United States. As of December 31, 2023, the Company had investments of approximately $1.1 billion in 193 real estate properties (including a portion of one property accounted for as a sales-type lease and two properties classified as held for sale).