CareTrust REIT (NASDAQ:CTRE) Lowered to "Underperform" Rating by Wedbush

Wedbush cut shares of CareTrust REIT (NASDAQ:CTRE - Free Report) from a neutral rating to an underperform rating in a report published on Thursday morning, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Wedbush currently has $26.00 price objective on the real estate investment trust's stock, down from their prior price objective of $34.00.

A number of other brokerages also recently issued reports on CTRE. BMO Capital Markets downgraded CareTrust REIT from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating and reduced their price target for the company from $34.00 to $32.00 in a report on Monday, December 9th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded CareTrust REIT from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and upped their target price for the company from $28.00 to $34.00 in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. Finally, KeyCorp raised their price target on CareTrust REIT from $27.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, October 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, CareTrust REIT presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $30.67.

CareTrust REIT Trading Down 2.0 %

CareTrust REIT stock traded down $0.53 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $26.52. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,729,273 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,641,112. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $29.54 and a 200-day moving average price of $28.76. CareTrust REIT has a 12 month low of $20.10 and a 12 month high of $33.15. The stock has a market cap of $4.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 1.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 7.60 and a quick ratio of 7.60.

CareTrust REIT (NASDAQ:CTRE - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.21 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.29 by ($0.08). The firm had revenue of $77.38 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $74.12 million. CareTrust REIT had a return on equity of 5.32% and a net margin of 36.88%. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.35 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that CareTrust REIT will post 1.5 EPS for the current year.

CareTrust REIT Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be paid a $0.29 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 31st. This represents a $1.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.37%. CareTrust REIT's dividend payout ratio is currently 161.11%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On CareTrust REIT

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its holdings in shares of CareTrust REIT by 27.4% in the 2nd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 29,227 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $734,000 after purchasing an additional 6,281 shares in the last quarter. Rothschild Investment LLC bought a new position in CareTrust REIT during the 2nd quarter valued at about $34,000. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC boosted its holdings in shares of CareTrust REIT by 12.3% during the 2nd quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 12,596 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $316,000 after acquiring an additional 1,375 shares during the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its holdings in shares of CareTrust REIT by 20.6% during the second quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 20,739 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $521,000 after purchasing an additional 3,542 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Natixis Advisors LLC lifted its position in CareTrust REIT by 14.3% during the second quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 111,810 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $2,806,000 after purchasing an additional 13,994 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.77% of the company's stock.

About CareTrust REIT

CareTrust REIT, Inc's (CareTrust REIT or the Company) primary business consists of acquiring, financing, developing and owning real property to be leased to third-party tenants in the healthcare sector. As of March 31, 2024, the Company owned directly or through a joint venture and leased to independent operators, 228 skilled nursing facilities (SNFs), multi-service campuses, assisted living facilities (ALFs) and independent living facilities (ILFs) consisting of 24,189 operational beds and units located in 29 states with the highest concentration of properties by rental income located in California and Texas.