Healthcare Realty Trust (NYSE:HR) Downgraded by StockNews.com to Sell

StockNews.com lowered shares of Healthcare Realty Trust (NYSE:HR) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research note issued to investors on Thursday morning.

A number of other equities analysts also recently commented on HR. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded shares of Healthcare Realty Trust from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $19.00 to $17.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. Scotiabank reduced their target price on Healthcare Realty Trust from $18.00 to $17.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered Healthcare Realty Trust from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $19.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Friday, December 20th. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $16.00 price target on shares of Healthcare Realty Trust in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of Healthcare Realty Trust from $17.00 to $16.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, March 10th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $17.00.

Healthcare Realty Trust Price Performance

Shares of Healthcare Realty Trust stock opened at $16.76 on Thursday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $16.66 and a two-hundred day moving average of $17.22. Healthcare Realty Trust has a 1 year low of $13.64 and a 1 year high of $18.90. The company has a market capitalization of $5.88 billion, a P/E ratio of -9.41 and a beta of 0.97.

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, beating the consensus estimate of $0.39 by $0.01. Healthcare Realty Trust had a negative net margin of 51.60% and a negative return on equity of 11.20%. The company had revenue of $309.77 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $303.81 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.39 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 6.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Healthcare Realty Trust will post 1.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Healthcare Realty Trust Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 19th. Investors of record on Monday, March 3rd were given a dividend of $0.31 per share. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.40%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 3rd. Healthcare Realty Trust’s dividend payout ratio is -69.66%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in HR. Starboard Value LP acquired a new position in Healthcare Realty Trust in the 4th quarter valued at $342,110,000. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Healthcare Realty Trust during the fourth quarter worth about $76,825,000. Rush Island Management LP increased its holdings in Healthcare Realty Trust by 21.2% in 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. Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. bought a new position in Healthcare Realty Trust in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $39,337,000. Finally, Lasalle Investment Management Securities LLC bought a new stake in Healthcare Realty Trust during the fourth quarter worth $31,398,000.

About Healthcare Realty Trust

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.