Short Interest in American Healthcare REIT, Inc. (NYSE:AHR) Grows By 68.5%

American Healthcare REIT, Inc. (NYSE:AHR) saw a large increase in short interest in 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 daily volume of 1,900,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 4.8 days. Currently, 6.0% of the shares of the stock are sold short.

American Healthcare REIT Trading Down 0.3 %

American Healthcare REIT stock traded down $0.08 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $28.62. 113,758 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 959,224. American Healthcare REIT has a fifty-two week low of $12.63 and a fifty-two week high of $29.99. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $28.07 and its 200-day 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. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.38 billion and a price-to-earnings ratio of -59.63.

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

American Healthcare REIT Dividend Announcement

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On American Healthcare REIT

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of AHR. Diversify Advisory Services LLC lifted its holdings in American Healthcare REIT by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. Diversify Advisory Services LLC now owns 35,070 shares of the company’s stock worth $955,000 after acquiring an additional 436 shares in the last quarter. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC boosted its position in American Healthcare REIT by 32.8% during the 4th quarter. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC now owns 12,581 shares of the company’s stock worth $358,000 after acquiring an additional 3,110 shares during the last quarter. Arkadios Wealth Advisors grew its stake in shares of American Healthcare REIT by 46.7% during the 4th quarter. Arkadios Wealth Advisors now owns 45,451 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,292,000 after acquiring an additional 14,464 shares in the last quarter. Selective Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of American Healthcare REIT in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $359,000. Finally, Merit Financial Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of American Healthcare REIT by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 184,234 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,236,000 after purchasing an additional 2,997 shares during the last quarter. 16.68% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently commented on AHR. Truist Financial raised their target price on American Healthcare REIT from $27.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 15th. JMP Securities lifted their price target on shares of American Healthcare REIT from $18.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. Bank of America upped their price objective on shares of 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 lifted their target price on shares of American Healthcare REIT from $28.00 to $30.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, November 18th. Finally, Colliers Securities upgraded American Healthcare REIT from a “hold” rating to a “moderate buy” rating in a research report on Sunday, October 13th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $26.00.

About American Healthcare REIT

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.