Community Healthcare Trust (NYSE:CHCT) Stock Breaks Below 50-Day Moving Average – Here’s What Happened

Shares of Community Healthcare Trust Incorporated (NYSE:CHCT) crossed below its fifty day moving average during trading on Monday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $14.38 and traded as low as $12.58. Community Healthcare Trust shares last traded at $12.7550, with a volume of 440,662 shares traded.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CHCT has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Community Healthcare Trust from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 8th. Truist Financial decreased their price objective on shares of Community Healthcare Trust from $18.00 to $17.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 9th. Huntington assumed coverage on shares of Community Healthcare Trust in a research report on Friday, July 17th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $20.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Piper Sandler dropped their target price on shares of Community Healthcare Trust from $17.00 to $14.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, October 12th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $17.00.

Community Healthcare Trust Price Performance

The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $14.34 and its 200 day simple moving average is $16.41. The firm has a market cap of $361.73 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.85 and a beta of 0.68.

Community Healthcare Trust (NYSE:CHCT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 4th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.06 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.11 by ($0.05). Community Healthcare Trust had a net margin of 16.81% and a return on equity of 4.96%. The company had revenue of $30.97 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $31.77 million. As a group, analysts forecast that Community Healthcare Trust Incorporated will post 1.87 earnings per share for the current year.

Community Healthcare Trust Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 31st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 19th were given a $0.33 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, August 19th. This represents a $1.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 10.5%. This is a decrease from Community Healthcare Trust’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. Community Healthcare Trust’s dividend payout ratio is 197.01%.

Insider Transactions at Community Healthcare Trust

In related news, CEO David H. Dupuy acquired 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 14th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $15.13 per share, with a total value of $151,300.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 557,262 shares in the company, valued at $8,431,374.06. This represents a 1.83% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Robert Z. Hensley bought 8,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 11th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $15.21 per share, for a total transaction of $121,680.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director directly owned 103,702 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,577,307.42. This trade represents a 8.36% increase in their position. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. 5.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new position in shares of Community Healthcare Trust during the second quarter worth $4,607,000. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in Community Healthcare Trust in the second quarter valued at $48,221,000. Man Group plc purchased a new stake in Community Healthcare Trust during the 2nd quarter worth about $1,072,000. Palisade Capital Management LP purchased a new stake in Community Healthcare Trust during the 2nd quarter worth about $3,881,000. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE purchased a new stake in Community Healthcare Trust during the 2nd quarter worth about $2,175,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.84% of the company’s stock.

Community Healthcare Trust Company Profile

Community Healthcare Trust Incorporated is a real estate investment trust focused on owning and operating healthcare-related properties. The company primarily invests in facilities that provide outpatient healthcare services, including medical office buildings, physician clinics, specialty facilities, behavioral health properties, ambulatory surgery centers and other healthcare-focused real estate.

Community Healthcare Trust generally targets properties located in non-urban and underserved communities across the United States.