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

StockNews.com cut shares of Healthcare Realty Trust (NYSE:HR) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a report released on Wednesday.

Several other equities analysts have also recently commented on the stock. Scotiabank decreased their price target on shares of Healthcare Realty Trust from $18.00 to $17.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Jefferies Financial Group cut shares of Healthcare Realty Trust from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $19.00 to $17.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut shares of Healthcare Realty Trust from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $19.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Finally, Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $16.00 price objective on shares of Healthcare Realty Trust in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $17.20.

Healthcare Realty Trust Stock Up 0.6 %

Shares of HR stock opened at $16.73 on Wednesday. Healthcare Realty Trust has a 52 week low of $12.77 and a 52 week high of $18.90. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.87 billion, a PE ratio of -9.40 and a beta of 0.94. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $16.62 and a two-hundred day moving average of $17.35.

Healthcare Realty Trust (NYSE:HR) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 19th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.40 EPS 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 last year, the company posted $0.39 EPS. The firm’s revenue was down 6.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that Healthcare Realty Trust will post 1.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Healthcare Realty Trust Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 19th. Investors of record on Monday, March 3rd will be paid a dividend of $0.31 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 3rd. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.41%. Healthcare Realty Trust’s dividend payout ratio is currently -69.66%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Peter F. Sr Lyle, Sr. purchased 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 13th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $17.21 per share, for a total transaction of $172,100.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 26,576 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $457,372.96. The trade was a 60.33 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.56% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Healthcare Realty Trust

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Starboard Value LP acquired a new position in Healthcare Realty Trust in the fourth quarter valued at $342,110,000. Rush Island Management LP increased its stake in Healthcare Realty Trust by 21.2% in the fourth 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 purchasing an additional 2,747,848 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its stake in Healthcare Realty Trust by 12.0% in the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 4,630,973 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $78,495,000 after purchasing an additional 495,599 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Healthcare Realty Trust in the fourth quarter valued at $76,825,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in Healthcare Realty Trust by 40.3% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 4,040,969 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $68,494,000 after purchasing an additional 1,159,763 shares during the period.

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.