Community Healthcare Trust Incorporated (NYSE:CHCT) Sees Large Increase in Short Interest

Community Healthcare Trust Incorporated (NYSE:CHCT) saw a significant growth in short interest in the month of June. As of June 15th, there was short interest totalling 486,100 shares, a growth of 101.7% from the May 31st total of 241,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 164,800 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.9 days.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Community Healthcare Trust

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in Community Healthcare Trust by 3.5% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 194,316 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $5,771,000 after buying an additional 6,488 shares during the period. HighTower Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Community Healthcare Trust during the third quarter worth about $313,000. Rhumbline Advisers boosted its stake in Community Healthcare Trust by 1.3% during the third quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 65,593 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,948,000 after buying an additional 827 shares during the period. MQS Management LLC purchased a new position in Community Healthcare Trust during the third quarter worth about $204,000. Finally, Kennedy Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Community Healthcare Trust by 0.8% during the third quarter. Kennedy Capital Management LLC now owns 515,038 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $15,297,000 after buying an additional 4,265 shares during the period. 87.84% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on CHCT shares. Evercore ISI reduced their price objective on shares of Community Healthcare Trust from $32.00 to $30.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. Truist Financial reduced their price objective on shares of Community Healthcare Trust from $35.00 to $30.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, June 17th. Finally, Piper Sandler restated a “neutral” rating and set a $26.00 price objective (down from $36.00) on shares of Community Healthcare Trust in a research report on Wednesday, May 1st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Community Healthcare Trust has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $28.67.

Community Healthcare Trust Stock Up 1.1 %

Shares of NYSE CHCT opened at $23.39 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $23.89 and a 200-day simple moving average of $25.48. The stock has a market capitalization of $647.93 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 0.68. Community Healthcare Trust has a 52 week low of $22.03 and a 52 week high of $36.72.

Community Healthcare Trust Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 24th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 10th were given a $0.46 dividend. This represents a $1.84 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 7.87%. This is a boost from Community Healthcare Trust’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.46. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 9th. Community Healthcare Trust’s dividend payout ratio is 287.50%.

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).