Community Healthcare Trust (NYSE:CHCT) Sets New 52-Week Low After Analyst Downgrade

Community Healthcare Trust Incorporated (NYSE:CHCT)’s stock price reached a new 52-week low on Thursday after Robert W. Baird lowered their price target on the stock from $29.00 to $25.00. Robert W. Baird currently has a neutral rating on the stock. Community Healthcare Trust traded as low as $21.21 and last traded at $21.28, with a volume of 117710 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $21.76.

A number of other analysts have also issued reports on CHCT. Evercore ISI lowered their price target on Community Healthcare Trust from $29.00 to $27.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, July 16th. Piper Sandler reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $26.00 price target (down previously from $36.00) on shares of Community Healthcare Trust in a research report on Wednesday, May 1st. Finally, Truist Financial decreased their price objective on Community Healthcare Trust from $35.00 to $30.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, June 17th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Community Healthcare Trust has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $26.50.

Institutional Trading of Community Healthcare Trust

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in CHCT. Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its stake in Community Healthcare Trust by 5,664.3% in the 1st quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 590,442 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $15,676,000 after buying an additional 580,199 shares in the last quarter. Mesirow Institutional Investment Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Community Healthcare Trust during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $7,835,000. Russell Investments Group Ltd. boosted its stake in Community Healthcare Trust by 27.8% during the 1st quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 364,844 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $9,687,000 after acquiring an additional 79,421 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Community Healthcare Trust by 1.8% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,951,903 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $78,373,000 after buying an additional 53,282 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Strs Ohio grew its stake in Community Healthcare Trust by 28.3% during the 4th quarter. Strs Ohio now owns 169,196 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $4,507,000 after buying an additional 37,300 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.84% of the company’s stock.

Community Healthcare Trust Trading Down 1.9 %

The company’s 50-day moving average is $24.02 and its two-hundred day moving average is $25.25. The stock has a market capitalization of $591.42 million, a P/E ratio of 33.25, a P/E/G ratio of 1.67 and a beta of 0.68.

Community Healthcare Trust (NYSE:CHCT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The real estate investment trust reported ($0.42) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.50 by ($0.92). Community Healthcare Trust had a return on equity of 0.25% and a net margin of 1.13%. The company had revenue of $27.52 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $30.02 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.63 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Community Healthcare Trust Incorporated will post 2.06 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Community Healthcare Trust Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 23rd. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 9th will be paid a $0.4625 dividend. This is a positive change from Community Healthcare Trust’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 9th. This represents a $1.85 annualized dividend and a yield of 8.67%. Community Healthcare Trust’s dividend payout ratio is presently 289.06%.

About Community Healthcare Trust

Community Healthcare Trust Incorporated is a real estate investment trust that focuses on owning income-producing real estate properties associated primarily with the delivery of outpatient healthcare services in our target sub-markets throughout the United States. As of December 31, 2023, the Company had investments of approximately $1.1 billion in 193 real estate properties (including a portion of one property accounted for as a sales-type lease and two properties classified as held for sale).