Healthcare Realty Trust (NYSE:HR) Upgraded at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Healthcare Realty Trust (NYSE:HR) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research report sent to investors on Tuesday.

Several other equities analysts also recently commented on HR. Scotiabank lowered their price objective on shares of Healthcare Realty Trust from $18.00 to $17.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered Healthcare Realty Trust from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lowered their price target for the company from $19.00 to $17.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on 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 reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $16.00 target price on shares of Healthcare Realty Trust in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered Healthcare Realty Trust from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $19.00 price target for the company. in a research note on Friday, December 20th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Healthcare Realty Trust currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $17.00.

Healthcare Realty Trust Price Performance

Shares of Healthcare Realty Trust stock opened at $16.74 on Tuesday. Healthcare Realty Trust has a one year low of $13.28 and a one year high of $18.90. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $16.61 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $17.28. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.87 billion, a P/E ratio of -9.40 and a beta of 0.97.

Healthcare Realty Trust (NYSE:HR) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 19th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.40 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.39 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $309.77 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $303.81 million. Healthcare Realty Trust had a negative net margin of 51.60% and a negative return on equity of 11.20%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 6.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.39 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Healthcare Realty Trust will post 1.59 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Healthcare Realty Trust Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 19th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 3rd were given a $0.31 dividend. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 7.41%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 3rd. Healthcare Realty Trust’s dividend payout ratio is currently -69.66%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Healthcare Realty Trust

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Healthcare Realty Trust by 59.0% in the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,650 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 612 shares during the last quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Healthcare Realty Trust by 6.5% during the fourth quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 11,530 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $195,000 after acquiring an additional 706 shares in the last quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Healthcare Realty Trust by 4.8% in the 4th quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 16,581 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $281,000 after purchasing an additional 756 shares during the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. raised its position in shares of Healthcare Realty Trust by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 70,776 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,200,000 after purchasing an additional 786 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Park Avenue Securities LLC boosted its stake in Healthcare Realty Trust by 4.1% in the 4th quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 20,193 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $342,000 after purchasing an additional 793 shares in the last quarter.

About Healthcare Realty Trust

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.