Short Interest in American Healthcare REIT, Inc. (NYSE:AHR) Expands By 30.0%

American Healthcare REIT, Inc. (NYSE:AHR) was the target of a large growth in short interest in August. As of August 31st, there was short interest totalling 4,510,000 shares, a growth of 30.0% from the August 15th total of 3,470,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,640,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.8 days. Currently, 3.4% of the company’s stock are sold short.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently weighed in on AHR shares. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on American Healthcare REIT from $17.00 to $22.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, August 22nd. JMP Securities upped their price target on shares of American Healthcare REIT from $16.00 to $18.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. KeyCorp lifted their price objective on shares of American Healthcare REIT from $16.00 to $27.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday. Bank of America upped their target price on American Healthcare REIT from $19.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Finally, Truist Financial lifted their price target on American Healthcare REIT from $17.00 to $22.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 3rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, American Healthcare REIT currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $20.38.

American Healthcare REIT Stock Performance

Shares of American Healthcare REIT stock traded down $0.22 during trading on Monday, reaching $24.36. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,881,507 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,214,613. American Healthcare REIT has a 1-year low of $12.63 and a 1-year high of $25.10. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $18.70 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $15.77. The company has a quick ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 0.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60.

American Healthcare REIT (NYSE:AHR) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 5th. The company reported $0.01 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.29 by ($0.28). American Healthcare REIT had a negative return on equity of 2.20% and a negative net margin of 1.99%. The business had revenue of $504.60 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $506.55 million. American Healthcare REIT’s revenue was up 7.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that American Healthcare REIT will post 1.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

American Healthcare REIT Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 18th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 20th will be given a dividend of $0.25 per share. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.11%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 20th.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Kiely Wealth Advisory Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of American Healthcare REIT in the 2nd quarter valued at $30,000. Amalgamated Bank acquired a new position in shares of American Healthcare REIT in the second quarter valued at about $33,000. Semmax Financial Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of American Healthcare REIT in the second quarter worth about $45,000. CWM LLC acquired a new stake in shares of American Healthcare REIT during the second quarter worth about $58,000. Finally, Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank purchased a new stake in American Healthcare REIT in the second quarter valued at approximately $110,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 16.68% of the company’s stock.

About American Healthcare REIT

Formed by the successful merger of Griffin-American Healthcare REIT III and Griffin-American Healthcare REIT IV, as well as the acquisition of the business and operations of American Healthcare Investors, American Healthcare REIT is one of the larger healthcare-focused real estate investment trusts globally with assets totaling approximately $4.2 billion in gross investment value.