Healthcare Realty Trust Incorporated (NYSE:HR) Short Interest Up 6.5% in October

Healthcare Realty Trust Incorporated (NYSE:HR) was the recipient of a large growth in short interest in October. As of October 15th, there was short interest totalling 13,840,000 shares, a growth of 6.5% from the September 30th total of 13,000,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 3,390,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 4.1 days.

Healthcare Realty Trust Stock Up 0.4 %

NYSE HR traded up $0.07 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $17.25. The company had a trading volume of 3,676,265 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,459,174. Healthcare Realty Trust has a 52 week low of $12.77 and a 52 week high of $18.90. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $17.89 and a 200 day simple moving average of $16.89.

Healthcare Realty Trust (NYSE:HR) last issued its earnings results on Friday, August 2nd. The real estate investment trust reported ($0.39) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.38 by ($0.77). Healthcare Realty Trust had a negative return on equity of 9.42% and a negative net margin of 45.63%. The company had revenue of $316.30 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $317.90 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.39 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 6.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that Healthcare Realty Trust will post 1.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Healthcare Realty Trust Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, November 27th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, November 12th will be given a dividend of $0.31 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, November 12th. This represents a $1.24 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 7.19%. Healthcare Realty Trust’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -78.48%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director John Knox Singleton bought 6,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 5th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $18.24 per share, for a total transaction of $118,560.00. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 57,082 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,041,175.68. This trade represents a 0.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, Director John Knox Singleton bought 6,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 5th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $18.24 per share, for a total transaction of $118,560.00. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 57,082 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,041,175.68. This trade represents a 0.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Thomas N. Bohjalian bought 9,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 12th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $17.39 per share, for a total transaction of $156,510.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 22,252 shares in the company, valued at $386,962.28. This represents a 0.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have acquired 15,728 shares of company stock worth $279,069. Corporate insiders own 0.56% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Healthcare Realty Trust

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its position in Healthcare Realty Trust by 38.1% in the 2nd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 2,276 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $38,000 after buying an additional 628 shares during the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in Healthcare Realty Trust by 260.6% in the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,809 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $50,000 after buying an additional 2,030 shares during the last quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in Healthcare Realty Trust in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $89,000. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in Healthcare Realty Trust by 67.2% in the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 5,569 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $92,000 after buying an additional 2,238 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Graypoint LLC bought a new stake in Healthcare Realty Trust in the 1st quarter worth approximately $147,000.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

HR has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Wedbush raised their price objective on Healthcare Realty Trust from $15.00 to $18.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Scotiabank raised their target price on Healthcare Realty Trust from $17.00 to $18.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reissued an “underweight” rating and issued a $17.00 price objective (up previously from $16.00) on shares of Healthcare Realty Trust in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. One 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. According to data from MarketBeat, Healthcare Realty Trust has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $17.17.

About Healthcare Realty Trust

Healthcare Realty (NYSE: HR) is a real estate investment trust (REIT) that owns and operates medical outpatient buildings primarily located around market-leading hospital campuses. The Company selectively grows its portfolio through property acquisition and development. As the first and largest REIT to specialize in medical outpatient buildings, Healthcare Realty's portfolio includes more than 700 properties totaling over 40 million square feet concentrated in 15 growth markets.