Community Healthcare Trust Incorporated (NYSE:CHCT) Sees Significant Growth in Short Interest

Community Healthcare Trust Incorporated (NYSE:CHCT) was the target of a significant growth in short interest in October. As of October 15th, there was short interest totalling 828,000 shares, a growth of 8.1% from the September 30th total of 766,300 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 480,100 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 1.7 days.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on CHCT. Piper Sandler raised their price target on shares of Community Healthcare Trust from $18.00 to $19.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday. Robert W. Baird reduced their price target on Community Healthcare Trust from $29.00 to $25.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Truist Financial cut their price objective on Community Healthcare Trust from $30.00 to $22.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 30th. Evercore ISI raised Community Healthcare Trust from an “underperform” rating to an “inline” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $21.00 to $18.00 in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Community Healthcare Trust from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Community Healthcare Trust has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $21.00.

Insider Transactions at Community Healthcare Trust

In related news, Director Robert Z. Hensley acquired 6,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 5th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $19.50 per share, with a total value of $126,750.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 70,670 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,378,065. This trade represents a 0.00 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, CEO David H. Dupuy purchased 10,000 shares of Community Healthcare Trust stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 5th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $19.48 per share, for a total transaction of $194,800.00. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer now directly owns 363,565 shares in the company, valued at $7,082,246.20. This represents a 0.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Robert Z. Hensley purchased 6,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 5th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $19.50 per share, with a total value of $126,750.00. Following the purchase, the director now owns 70,670 shares in the company, valued at $1,378,065. This represents a 0.00 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 4.00% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. raised its holdings in Community Healthcare Trust by 67.9% in the 4th quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 8,062 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $215,000 after acquiring an additional 3,260 shares in the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. lifted its position in Community Healthcare Trust by 1.8% in the first quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. now owns 29,755 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $790,000 after purchasing an additional 527 shares during the period. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC lifted its position in Community Healthcare Trust by 10.5% in the first quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 52,366 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,390,000 after purchasing an additional 4,985 shares during the period. Mesirow Institutional Investment Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Community Healthcare Trust during the first quarter worth $7,835,000. Finally, Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund increased its holdings in Community Healthcare Trust by 3.9% in the 1st quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund now owns 14,703 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $390,000 after buying an additional 558 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.84% of the company’s stock.

Community Healthcare Trust Trading Down 1.0 %

Shares of Community Healthcare Trust stock opened at $18.76 on Friday. Community Healthcare Trust has a 1 year low of $15.06 and a 1 year high of $29.16. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $17.43 and its 200-day simple moving average is $21.32. The company has a market cap of $526.35 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -208.44, a PEG ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 0.69.

Community Healthcare Trust Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 22nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 8th will be issued a dividend of $0.465 per share. This is an increase from Community Healthcare Trust’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 8th. This represents a $1.86 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 9.91%. Community Healthcare Trust’s payout ratio is presently -2,066.67%.

About Community Healthcare Trust

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.