Healthcare Realty Trust (NYSE:HR) Stock Rating Upgraded by StockNews.com

Healthcare Realty Trust (NYSE:HR) was upgraded by stock analysts at StockNews.com from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report issued on Tuesday.

A number of other research firms have also recently commented on HR. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut Healthcare Realty Trust from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $19.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered Healthcare Realty Trust from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $19.00 to $17.00 in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. Wedbush reaffirmed 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, Scotiabank dropped their price target on shares of Healthcare Realty Trust from $18.00 to $17.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $17.20.

Healthcare Realty Trust Price Performance

NYSE:HR traded up $0.07 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $16.89. The company had a trading volume of 1,735,576 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,410,244. Healthcare Realty Trust has a 1-year low of $12.77 and a 1-year high of $18.90. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $16.63 and its 200-day moving average price is $17.38. The firm has a market cap of $5.98 billion, a PE ratio of -9.49 and a beta of 0.94.

Healthcare Realty Trust (NYSE:HR) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 19th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.39 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $309.77 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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 business’s revenue was down 6.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.39 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Healthcare Realty Trust will post 1.59 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, COO Robert E. Hull sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $17.48, for a total transaction of $174,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 171,400 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,996,072. This represents a 5.51 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.56% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Healthcare Realty Trust

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Starboard Value LP acquired a new stake in Healthcare Realty Trust in the 4th quarter valued at about $342,110,000. Rush Island Management LP boosted its holdings in shares of Healthcare Realty Trust by 21.2% during the 4th quarter. Rush Island Management LP now owns 15,681,440 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $265,800,000 after purchasing an additional 2,747,848 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its position in shares of Healthcare Realty Trust by 12.0% in the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 4,630,973 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $78,495,000 after purchasing an additional 495,599 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Healthcare Realty Trust in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $76,825,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp increased its holdings in shares of Healthcare Realty Trust by 40.3% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 4,040,969 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $68,494,000 after purchasing an additional 1,159,763 shares during 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.