Healthcare Realty Trust (NYSE:HR) Stock Rating Upgraded by Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Healthcare Realty Trust (NYSE:HR) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday.

Several other brokerages have also recently weighed in on HR. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on shares of Healthcare Realty Trust from $17.00 to $16.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 10th. Wedbush lowered their price target on shares of Healthcare Realty Trust from $18.00 to $16.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, May 5th. Finally, Scotiabank lowered their price target on shares of Healthcare Realty Trust from $18.00 to $17.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and five have given a hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $17.00.

Healthcare Realty Trust Stock Up 0.2%

Shares of HR opened at $14.37 on Wednesday. Healthcare Realty Trust has a 52-week low of $14.25 and a 52-week high of $18.90. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $15.66 and its two-hundred day moving average is $16.54. The stock has a market cap of $5.05 billion, a PE ratio of -8.07 and a beta of 0.92.

Healthcare Realty Trust (NYSE:HR) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The real estate investment trust reported $0.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.39. 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 $288.86 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $297.39 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.39 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 9.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Healthcare Realty Trust will post 1.59 earnings per share for the current year.

Healthcare Realty Trust Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 23rd. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 12th were given a dividend of $0.31 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 12th. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 8.63%. Healthcare Realty Trust’s payout ratio is -113.76%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Thomas N. Bohjalian bought 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 13th. The shares were bought at an average price of $14.71 per share, with a total value of $36,775.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 56,502 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $831,144.42. This represents a 4.63% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.37% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of HR. Starboard Value LP acquired a new position in Healthcare Realty Trust in the fourth quarter valued at about $342,110,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA acquired a new position in Healthcare Realty Trust in the first quarter valued at about $100,817,000. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Healthcare Realty Trust in the fourth quarter valued at about $76,825,000. Rush Island Management LP lifted its position 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 buying an additional 2,747,848 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. acquired a new position in Healthcare Realty Trust in the fourth quarter valued at about $39,337,000.

Healthcare Realty Trust Company Profile

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.