Principal Financial Group Inc. Increases Stake in CareTrust REIT, Inc. (NASDAQ:CTRE)

Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of CareTrust REIT, Inc. (NASDAQ:CTRE) by 5.2% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 838,306 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after purchasing an additional 41,623 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned approximately 0.59% of CareTrust REIT worth $25,870,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in CTRE. Amalgamated Bank boosted its position in CareTrust REIT by 3.9% during the 3rd quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 44,808 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,383,000 after buying an additional 1,700 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its holdings in shares of CareTrust REIT by 18.2% during the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 24,516 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $756,000 after purchasing an additional 3,777 shares during the period. US Bancorp DE grew its stake in shares of CareTrust REIT by 6.2% in the third quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 11,786 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $364,000 after purchasing an additional 692 shares during the last quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. purchased a new position in CareTrust REIT during the 3rd quarter valued at about $220,000. Finally, New York State Teachers Retirement System raised its position in CareTrust REIT by 2.0% during the 3rd quarter. New York State Teachers Retirement System now owns 200,568 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $6,190,000 after purchasing an additional 3,979 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 87.77% of the company’s stock.

CareTrust REIT Stock Performance

CareTrust REIT stock opened at $30.77 on Wednesday. CareTrust REIT, Inc. has a twelve month low of $20.10 and a twelve month high of $33.15. The company has a quick ratio of 7.60, a current ratio of 7.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The company has a market capitalization of $5.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 42.74 and a beta of 1.09. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $30.73 and its 200 day moving average is $27.85.

CareTrust REIT (NASDAQ:CTRE) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.21 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.29 by ($0.08). The company had revenue of $77.38 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $74.12 million. CareTrust REIT had a net margin of 36.88% and a return on equity of 5.32%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.35 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict that CareTrust REIT, Inc. will post 1.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CareTrust REIT Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Investors of record on Monday, September 30th were given a dividend of $0.29 per share. This represents a $1.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.77%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 30th. CareTrust REIT’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 161.11%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently commented on CTRE. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded CareTrust REIT from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their target price for the company from $28.00 to $34.00 in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. KeyCorp lifted their target price on shares of CareTrust REIT from $27.00 to $34.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 7th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on shares of CareTrust REIT from $33.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on CareTrust REIT from $27.00 to $31.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 22nd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $31.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other CareTrust REIT news, CFO William M. Wagner sold 35,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $29.80, for a total transaction of $1,043,000.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 257,439 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,671,682.20. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 1.75% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

CareTrust REIT Company Profile

CareTrust REIT, Inc’s (CareTrust REIT or the Company) primary business consists of acquiring, financing, developing and owning real property to be leased to third-party tenants in the healthcare sector. As of March 31, 2024, the Company owned directly or through a joint venture and leased to independent operators, 228 skilled nursing facilities (SNFs), multi-service campuses, assisted living facilities (ALFs) and independent living facilities (ILFs) consisting of 24,189 operational beds and units located in 29 states with the highest concentration of properties by rental income located in California and Texas.