American Healthcare REIT, Inc. (NYSE:AHR) Short Interest Update

American Healthcare REIT, Inc. (NYSE:AHR) was the target of a significant growth in short interest during the month of December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 9,150,000 shares, a growth of 68.5% from the December 15th total of 5,430,000 shares. Approximately 6.0% of the company’s stock are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 1,900,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 4.8 days.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Diversify Advisory Services LLC boosted its holdings in shares of American Healthcare REIT by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. Diversify Advisory Services LLC now owns 35,070 shares of the company’s stock worth $955,000 after acquiring an additional 436 shares during the period. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC grew its position in American Healthcare REIT by 32.8% during the fourth quarter. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC now owns 12,581 shares of the company’s stock worth $358,000 after buying an additional 3,110 shares in the last quarter. Arkadios Wealth Advisors grew its position in American Healthcare REIT by 46.7% during the fourth quarter. Arkadios Wealth Advisors now owns 45,451 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,292,000 after buying an additional 14,464 shares in the last quarter. Selective Wealth Management Inc. bought a new position in American Healthcare REIT during the 4th quarter worth $359,000. Finally, Merit Financial Group LLC raised its holdings in American Healthcare REIT by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 184,234 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,236,000 after acquiring an additional 2,997 shares in the last quarter. 16.68% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

American Healthcare REIT Stock Performance

AHR opened at $28.67 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.37, a current ratio of 0.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59. American Healthcare REIT has a 12-month low of $12.63 and a 12-month high of $29.99. The business has a 50 day moving average of $28.07 and a 200-day moving average of $23.59. The stock has a market cap of $4.39 billion and a price-to-earnings ratio of -59.72.

American Healthcare REIT (NYSE:AHR) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 12th. The company reported ($0.03) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.32 by ($0.35). American Healthcare REIT had a negative net margin of 1.84% and a negative return on equity of 1.87%. The business had revenue of $523.81 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $474.26 million. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts expect that American Healthcare REIT will post 1.41 earnings per share for the current year.

American Healthcare REIT Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 17th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be issued a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.49%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 31st. American Healthcare REIT’s payout ratio is -208.33%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

AHR has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Truist Financial raised their target price on shares of American Healthcare REIT from $27.00 to $29.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Colliers Securities upgraded American Healthcare REIT from a “hold” rating to a “moderate buy” rating in a report on Sunday, October 13th. JMP Securities upped their target price on American Healthcare REIT from $18.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on American Healthcare REIT from $28.00 to $30.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, November 18th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on American Healthcare REIT from $27.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, December 30th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, American Healthcare REIT currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $26.00.

About American Healthcare REIT

Formed by the successful merger of Griffin-American Healthcare REIT III and Griffin-American Healthcare REIT IV, as well as the acquisition of the business and operations of American Healthcare Investors, American Healthcare REIT is one of the larger healthcare-focused real estate investment trusts globally with assets totaling approximately $4.2 billion in gross investment value.