Employees Retirement System of Texas Raises Stake in Americold Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:COLD)

Employees Retirement System of Texas increased its stake in Americold Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:COLD) by 6.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 237,868 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 15,000 shares during the quarter. Employees Retirement System of Texas owned 0.08% of Americold Realty Trust worth $5,090,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in COLD. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd raised its holdings in shares of Americold Realty Trust by 139.3% in the fourth quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd now owns 61,788 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,322,000 after acquiring an additional 35,973 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in Americold Realty Trust in the 4th quarter valued at about $980,000. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Americold Realty Trust by 7.2% during the 4th quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 857,571 shares of the company’s stock worth $18,352,000 after purchasing an additional 57,248 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its holdings in shares of Americold Realty Trust by 132.0% during the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,951,001 shares of the company’s stock worth $63,151,000 after buying an additional 1,678,949 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its holdings in shares of Americold Realty Trust by 2.5% during the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,226,026 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,237,000 after buying an additional 29,580 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.14% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other Americold Realty Trust news, CEO George F. Jr. Chappelle purchased 110,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 12th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $17.99 per share, for a total transaction of $1,978,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 110,000 shares in the company, valued at $1,978,900. The trade was a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Jay Wells purchased 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 12th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $17.91 per share, for a total transaction of $179,100.00. Following the acquisition, the chief financial officer now directly owns 10,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $179,100. This represents a ∞ increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.23% of the company’s stock.

Americold Realty Trust Stock Down 1.8%

NYSE:COLD opened at $16.82 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.79 billion, a PE ratio of -49.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 0.95. Americold Realty Trust, Inc. has a 52 week low of $16.56 and a 52 week high of $30.45. The company has a current ratio of 0.15, a quick ratio of 0.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $19.42 and a 200-day moving average of $21.12.

Americold Realty Trust (NYSE:COLD) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The company reported $0.34 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.35 by ($0.01). Americold Realty Trust had a negative return on equity of 2.70% and a negative net margin of 3.54%. The company had revenue of $628.98 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $667.18 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.37 earnings per share. Americold Realty Trust’s quarterly revenue was down 5.4% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts predict that Americold Realty Trust, Inc. will post 1.47 EPS for the current year.

Americold Realty Trust Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 30th will be issued a dividend of $0.23 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 30th. This represents a $0.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.47%. Americold Realty Trust’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -213.95%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on shares of Americold Realty Trust from $23.00 to $18.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, May 19th. Robert W. Baird decreased their price target on Americold Realty Trust from $27.00 to $23.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 16th. Citigroup dropped their price objective on shares of Americold Realty Trust from $25.00 to $23.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Barclays raised shares of Americold Realty Trust from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $26.00 to $21.00 in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Finally, Scotiabank restated a “sector perform” rating and set a $20.00 target price on shares of Americold Realty Trust in a research note on Thursday, May 15th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $26.09.

Americold Realty Trust Profile

Americold Realty Trust, Inc is a real estate investment trust, which focuses on the ownership, operation, development, and acquisition of temperature-controlled warehouses. It operates through the following segments: Warehouse, Third-Party Managed, Transportation, and Other. The Warehouse segment collects rent and storage fees from customers to store frozen and perishable food and other products within the firm’s real estate portfolio.