Short Interest in Community Healthcare Trust Incorporated (NYSE:CHCT) Increases By 19.8%

Community Healthcare Trust Incorporated (NYSE:CHCT - Get Free Report) was the target of a large growth in short interest in the month of November. As of November 15th, there was short interest totalling 652,200 shares, a growth of 19.8% from the October 31st total of 544,300 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 455,800 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 1.4 days.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CHCT has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Truist Financial reduced their price target on shares of Community Healthcare Trust from $30.00 to $22.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 30th. StockNews.com raised Community Healthcare Trust from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, November 25th. Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Community Healthcare Trust from an "underperform" rating to an "inline" rating and reduced their price target for the company from $21.00 to $18.00 in a report on Monday, September 16th. Finally, Piper Sandler raised their price objective on shares of Community Healthcare Trust from $18.00 to $19.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Community Healthcare Trust has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $21.00.

Community Healthcare Trust Stock Performance

Community Healthcare Trust stock traded up $0.11 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $18.90. The company's stock had a trading volume of 88,987 shares, compared to its average volume of 261,403. Community Healthcare Trust has a 12 month low of $15.06 and a 12 month high of $29.16. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $17.93 and its 200 day simple moving average is $20.35. The company has a market capitalization of $533.74 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -210.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 0.67.

Community Healthcare Trust (NYSE:CHCT - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.04 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.43 by ($0.39). Community Healthcare Trust had a negative net margin of 0.39% and a negative return on equity of 0.09%. The company had revenue of $29.64 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $29.06 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.63 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Community Healthcare Trust will post 1.84 EPS for the current year.

Community Healthcare Trust Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 22nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 8th were paid a dividend of $0.465 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 8th. This represents a $1.86 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 9.84%. This is a boost from Community Healthcare Trust's previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. Community Healthcare Trust's dividend payout ratio is currently -2,066.67%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Community Healthcare Trust

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Community Healthcare Trust by 1.8% in 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 purchasing an additional 53,282 shares during the last quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Community Healthcare Trust in the first quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its stake in shares of Community Healthcare Trust by 5.8% during the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 16,686 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $444,000 after acquiring an additional 919 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC increased its holdings in shares of Community Healthcare Trust by 65.7% during the 2nd quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 9,152 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $214,000 after acquiring an additional 3,630 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Panagora Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Community Healthcare Trust by 124.7% during the 2nd quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. now owns 52,794 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $1,235,000 after acquiring an additional 29,297 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.84% of the company's stock.

Community Healthcare Trust Company Profile

Community Healthcare Trust Incorporated (the Company'', we'', our'') was organized in the State of Maryland on March 28, 2014. The Company is a fully-integrated healthcare real estate company that owns and acquires real estate properties that are leased to hospitals, doctors, healthcare systems or other healthcare service providers.