Community Healthcare Trust (NYSE:CHCT) Hits New 12-Month High After Analyst Upgrade

Shares of Community Healthcare Trust Incorporated (NYSE:CHCT) hit a new 52-week high on Thursday after Truist Financial raised their price target on the stock from $19.00 to $20.00. Truist Financial currently has a buy rating on the stock. Community Healthcare Trust traded as high as $18.29 and last traded at $18.22, with a volume of 16116 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $17.86.

Several other research firms have also recently commented on CHCT. Evercore set a $17.00 price target on Community Healthcare Trust in a report on Thursday, February 19th. Piper Sandler lifted their price target on Community Healthcare Trust from $17.00 to $18.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, February 19th. Zacks Research cut Community Healthcare Trust from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, February 26th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Community Healthcare Trust in a report on Monday, May 18th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut Community Healthcare Trust from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, May 9th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $18.33.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of CHCT. Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its holdings in Community Healthcare Trust by 667.6% in the third quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 379,665 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $5,809,000 after buying an additional 330,203 shares during the period. Kennedy Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Community Healthcare Trust by 66.0% in the third quarter. Kennedy Capital Management LLC now owns 806,461 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $12,339,000 after buying an additional 320,546 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in Community Healthcare Trust by 38.9% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,060,213 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $16,221,000 after buying an additional 297,179 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Community Healthcare Trust by 400.9% in the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 218,822 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $3,639,000 after buying an additional 175,133 shares during the period. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its holdings in Community Healthcare Trust by 49.8% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 438,417 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $6,708,000 after buying an additional 145,834 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.84% of the company’s stock.

Community Healthcare Trust Stock Up 0.7%

The company’s fifty day moving average is $17.18 and its 200 day moving average is $16.74. The stock has a market cap of $513.97 million, a PE ratio of 163.61 and a beta of 0.73.

Community Healthcare Trust (NYSE:CHCT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.07 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.10 by ($0.03). Community Healthcare Trust had a net margin of 4.94% and a return on equity of 1.41%. The business had revenue of $31.52 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $31.03 million. Equities analysts expect that Community Healthcare Trust Incorporated will post 1.86 EPS for the current year.

Community Healthcare Trust Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 22nd. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 11th were issued a $0.48 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 11th. This represents a $1.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 10.7%. This is a boost from Community Healthcare Trust’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.48. Community Healthcare Trust’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 1,745.45%.

About Community Healthcare Trust

Community Healthcare Trust Incorporated (NYSE:CHCT) is a real estate investment trust that specializes in owning and leasing healthcare-related properties. The company’s portfolio is focused primarily on senior housing and care facilities, including skilled nursing centers, assisted living communities, memory care units, independent living apartments and continuing care retirement communities. Through long‐term, triple‐net leases, Community Healthcare Trust seeks stable, predictable cash flows by partnering with experienced operators that manage day-to-day resident care and property operations.

As of the latest reporting, Community Healthcare Trust’s holdings span multiple regions across the United States, with properties located in both urban and suburban markets.