Healthcare Realty Trust Incorporated (NYSE:HR) Short Interest Down 9.2% in September

Healthcare Realty Trust Incorporated (NYSE:HR) saw a large decrease in short interest in September. As of September 15th, there was short interest totalling 13,930,000 shares, a decrease of 9.2% from the August 31st total of 15,340,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 3,670,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 3.8 days.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

HR has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company lowered shares of Healthcare Realty Trust from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $17.00 to $16.00 in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. Wedbush raised 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. Finally, Scotiabank raised 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. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Healthcare Realty Trust currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $17.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director John Knox Singleton bought 6,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 5th. The stock was bought at an average price of $18.24 per share, for a total transaction of $118,560.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 57,082 shares in the company, valued at $1,041,175.68. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Healthcare Realty Trust news, Director John Knox Singleton purchased 6,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 5th. The shares were bought at an average price of $18.24 per share, for a total transaction of $118,560.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 57,082 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,041,175.68. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Thomas N. Bohjalian purchased 9,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 12th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $17.39 per share, for a total transaction of $156,510.00. Following the purchase, the director now owns 22,252 shares in the company, valued at $386,962.28. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders purchased a total of 15,728 shares of company stock worth $279,069 in the last quarter. 0.56% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Healthcare Realty Trust

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in HR. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC raised its stake in shares of Healthcare Realty Trust by 7.8% in the fourth quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 50,963 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $878,000 after acquiring an additional 3,697 shares during the last quarter. US Bancorp DE raised its stake in shares of Healthcare Realty Trust by 155.6% in the fourth quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 49,796 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $858,000 after acquiring an additional 30,312 shares during the last quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Healthcare Realty Trust by 149.4% in the fourth quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 5,424 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $93,000 after acquiring an additional 3,249 shares during the last quarter. TD Asset Management Inc raised its stake in shares of Healthcare Realty Trust by 194.3% in the fourth quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 67,384 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,161,000 after acquiring an additional 44,484 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Allianz Asset Management GmbH raised its stake in shares of Healthcare Realty Trust by 40.1% in the fourth quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 119,210 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $2,054,000 after acquiring an additional 34,134 shares during the last quarter.

Healthcare Realty Trust Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:HR traded up $0.12 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $18.18. 2,145,755 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,582,294. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $17.85 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $16.26. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.88 billion, a PE ratio of -13.67 and a beta of 0.91. Healthcare Realty Trust has a 12 month low of $12.77 and a 12 month high of $18.90.

Healthcare Realty Trust (NYSE:HR) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, August 2nd. The real estate investment trust reported ($0.39) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.38 by ($0.77). Healthcare Realty Trust had a negative net margin of 42.79% and a negative return on equity of 8.50%. The firm had revenue of $316.30 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $317.90 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.39 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts anticipate that Healthcare Realty Trust will post 1.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Healthcare Realty Trust Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, August 28th. Investors of record on Monday, August 12th were issued a dividend of $0.31 per share. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.82%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, August 12th. Healthcare Realty Trust’s dividend payout ratio is currently -93.23%.

About Healthcare Realty Trust

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.