Americold Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:COLD) Sees Large Drop in Short Interest

Americold Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:COLD) was the target of a significant decrease in short interest in the month of February. As of February 15th, there was short interest totalling 5,860,000 shares, a decrease of 36.3% from the January 31st total of 9,200,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 2,030,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.9 days.

Americold Realty Trust Trading Down 1.9 %

COLD stock traded down $0.43 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $21.99. 1,833,339 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,081,803. The company has a current ratio of 0.15, a quick ratio of 0.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11. Americold Realty Trust has a 52-week low of $20.41 and a 52-week high of $30.45. The company has a market cap of $6.25 billion, a P/E ratio of -64.67, a P/E/G ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 0.61. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $21.65 and its 200-day moving average is $24.46.

Americold Realty Trust (NYSE:COLD) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 20th. The company reported $0.37 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.10 by $0.27. Americold Realty Trust had a negative net margin of 3.54% and a negative return on equity of 2.70%. The company had revenue of $666.44 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $684.03 million. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Americold Realty Trust will post 1.47 earnings per share for the current year.

Americold Realty Trust Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st were paid a dividend of $0.22 per share. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.00%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 31st. Americold Realty Trust’s dividend payout ratio is presently -258.82%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Robert E. Harris sold 1,836 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $22.64, for a total transaction of $41,567.04. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 1,837 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $41,589.68. The trade was a 49.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.17% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Americold Realty Trust

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in COLD. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. purchased a new stake in shares of Americold Realty Trust in the fourth quarter worth approximately $25,000. Assetmark Inc. lifted its position in shares of Americold Realty Trust by 2,288.1% in the third quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 1,003 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 961 shares in the last quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Americold Realty Trust by 1,081.4% in the fourth quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,221 shares of the company’s stock worth $48,000 after purchasing an additional 2,033 shares in the last quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P purchased a new stake in shares of Americold Realty Trust in the third quarter worth approximately $55,000. Finally, Vestcor Inc purchased a new stake in shares of Americold Realty Trust in the fourth quarter worth approximately $86,000. 98.14% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently commented on COLD. Scotiabank dropped their price objective on Americold Realty Trust from $31.00 to $27.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Barclays dropped their price target on shares of Americold Realty Trust from $28.00 to $26.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, November 18th. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price target on shares of Americold Realty Trust from $33.00 to $30.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. Citigroup cut their price target on shares of Americold Realty Trust from $30.00 to $25.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Raymond James cut their price target on shares of Americold Realty Trust from $31.00 to $27.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $29.17.

About Americold Realty Trust

Americold Realty Trust, Inc is a real estate investment trust, which focuses on the ownership, operation, development, and acquisition of temperature-controlled warehouses. It operates through the following segments: Warehouse, Third-Party Managed, Transportation, and Other. The Warehouse segment collects rent and storage fees from customers to store frozen and perishable food and other products within the firm’s real estate portfolio.