Sophron Capital Management L.P. Acquires Shares of 188,291 Healthcare Realty Trust Incorporated (NYSE:HR)

Sophron Capital Management L.P. purchased a new stake in shares of Healthcare Realty Trust Incorporated (NYSE:HR) during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund purchased 188,291 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock, valued at approximately $3,192,000. Healthcare Realty Trust accounts for about 1.3% of Sophron Capital Management L.P.’s portfolio, making the stock its 27th biggest holding.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of HR. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in Healthcare Realty Trust by 59.0% in the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,650 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 612 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. raised its stake in shares of Healthcare Realty Trust by 130.3% during the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,635 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 925 shares in the last quarter. Synergy Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Healthcare Realty Trust during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Lazard Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in Healthcare Realty Trust in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $45,000. Finally, Jones Financial Companies Lllp grew its holdings in Healthcare Realty Trust by 68.7% in the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 3,067 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $52,000 after purchasing an additional 1,249 shares during the last quarter.

Insider Buying and Selling at Healthcare Realty Trust

In other news, Director Thomas N. Bohjalian acquired 2,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 13th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $14.71 per share, with a total value of $36,775.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 56,502 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $831,144.42. This trade represents a 4.63% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.37% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on HR. Wedbush lowered their price objective on Healthcare Realty Trust from $18.00 to $16.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, May 5th. StockNews.com upgraded Healthcare Realty Trust from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 8th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of Healthcare Realty Trust from $17.00 to $16.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, March 10th. Finally, Scotiabank dropped their target price 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 equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and five have issued a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Healthcare Realty Trust has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $17.00.

Healthcare Realty Trust Stock Up 1.6%

Healthcare Realty Trust stock opened at $15.03 on Monday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $15.85 and a 200 day moving average price of $16.62. The company has a market capitalization of $5.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -8.44 and a beta of 0.92. Healthcare Realty Trust Incorporated has a 52 week low of $14.45 and a 52 week high of $18.90.

Healthcare Realty Trust (NYSE:HR) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The real estate investment trust reported $0.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $297.39 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.39 EPS. Healthcare Realty Trust’s revenue for the quarter was down 9.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that Healthcare Realty Trust Incorporated will post 1.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Healthcare Realty Trust Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 23rd. Investors of record on Monday, May 12th will be given a dividend of $0.31 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 12th. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 8.25%. Healthcare Realty Trust’s dividend payout ratio is presently -113.76%.

Healthcare Realty Trust 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.