American Healthcare REIT, Inc. (NYSE:AHR) Short Interest Update

American Healthcare REIT, Inc. (NYSE:AHR) was the target of a significant increase in short interest during the month of December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 9,150,000 shares, an increase of 68.5% from the December 15th total of 5,430,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 1,900,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 4.8 days. Approximately 6.0% of the company’s stock are sold short.

American Healthcare REIT Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE AHR traded down $0.08 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $28.62. 113,758 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 959,224. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.38 billion and a price-to-earnings ratio of -59.63. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $28.07 and its 200 day simple moving average is $23.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a quick ratio of 0.37 and a current ratio of 0.37. American Healthcare REIT has a 52 week low of $12.63 and a 52 week high of $29.99.

American Healthcare REIT (NYSE:AHR) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, November 12th. The company reported ($0.03) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.32 by ($0.35). American Healthcare REIT had a negative return on equity of 1.87% and a negative net margin of 1.84%. The firm had revenue of $523.81 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $474.26 million. American Healthcare REIT’s quarterly revenue was up 12.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that American Healthcare REIT will post 1.41 EPS for the current year.

American Healthcare REIT Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 17th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be given a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 31st. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.49%. American Healthcare REIT’s payout ratio is presently -208.33%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in AHR. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its position in American Healthcare REIT by 54.1% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 9,488,750 shares of the company’s stock worth $247,654,000 after buying an additional 3,330,714 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its position in shares of American Healthcare REIT by 25.7% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 13,445,752 shares of the company’s stock worth $350,934,000 after purchasing an additional 2,747,960 shares during the period. State Street Corp raised its stake in American Healthcare REIT by 221.6% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,683,691 shares of the company’s stock valued at $96,473,000 after purchasing an additional 2,538,177 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC bought a new stake in American Healthcare REIT during the third quarter worth about $56,575,000. Finally, Commonwealth Equity Services LLC increased its holdings in American Healthcare REIT by 6,875.6% in the 3rd quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 1,605,441 shares of the company’s stock valued at $41,902,000 after buying an additional 1,582,426 shares during the period. 16.68% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently issued reports on AHR. Colliers Securities upgraded American Healthcare REIT from a “hold” rating to a “moderate buy” rating in a report on Sunday, October 13th. Bank of America upped their price objective on American Healthcare REIT from $27.00 to $31.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 24th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on shares of American Healthcare REIT from $28.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, November 18th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of American Healthcare REIT from $27.00 to $29.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, December 30th. Finally, JMP Securities boosted their price objective on shares of American Healthcare REIT from $18.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, September 20th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $26.00.

American Healthcare REIT Company Profile

Formed by the successful merger of Griffin-American Healthcare REIT III and Griffin-American Healthcare REIT IV, as well as the acquisition of the business and operations of American Healthcare Investors, American Healthcare REIT is one of the larger healthcare-focused real estate investment trusts globally with assets totaling approximately $4.2 billion in gross investment value.