Heitman Real Estate Securities LLC Invests $27.53 Million in CareTrust REIT, Inc. (NASDAQ:CTRE)

Heitman Real Estate Securities LLC bought a new stake in shares of CareTrust REIT, Inc. (NASDAQ:CTRE) during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 892,207 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock, valued at approximately $27,534,000. CareTrust REIT comprises about 1.5% of Heitman Real Estate Securities LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 27th largest position. Heitman Real Estate Securities LLC owned about 0.52% of CareTrust REIT at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of CareTrust REIT during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $27,000. Rothschild Investment LLC bought a new stake in CareTrust REIT during the second quarter worth $34,000. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its position in CareTrust REIT by 178.3% in the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,205 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 772 shares during the last quarter. Quest Partners LLC bought a new position in CareTrust REIT in the 2nd quarter valued at $40,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in shares of CareTrust REIT by 187.7% in the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,752 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $44,000 after buying an additional 1,143 shares during the last quarter. 87.77% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

CareTrust REIT Price Performance

CareTrust REIT stock opened at $29.19 on Tuesday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $30.65 and a 200 day simple moving average of $28.38. CareTrust REIT, Inc. has a 52 week low of $20.10 and a 52 week high of $33.15. The stock has a market cap of $5.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.55 and a beta of 1.08. The company has a quick ratio of 7.60, a current ratio of 7.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16.

CareTrust REIT (NASDAQ:CTRE) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.21 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.29 by ($0.08). CareTrust REIT had a return on equity of 5.32% and a net margin of 36.88%. The company had revenue of $77.38 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $74.12 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.35 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that CareTrust REIT, Inc. will post 1.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

CareTrust REIT Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 30th were paid a dividend of $0.29 per share. This represents a $1.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.97%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 30th. CareTrust REIT’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 161.11%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO William M. Wagner sold 35,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $29.80, for a total transaction of $1,043,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 257,439 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,671,682.20. This represents a 11.97 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.54% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have commented on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of CareTrust REIT from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $28.00 to $34.00 in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on CareTrust REIT from $27.00 to $31.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 22nd. KeyCorp upped their price target on shares of CareTrust REIT from $27.00 to $34.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on CareTrust REIT from $33.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, CareTrust REIT currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $31.00.

About CareTrust REIT

CareTrust REIT, Inc’s (CareTrust REIT or the Company) primary business consists of acquiring, financing, developing and owning real property to be leased to third-party tenants in the healthcare sector. As of March 31, 2024, the Company owned directly or through a joint venture and leased to independent operators, 228 skilled nursing facilities (SNFs), multi-service campuses, assisted living facilities (ALFs) and independent living facilities (ILFs) consisting of 24,189 operational beds and units located in 29 states with the highest concentration of properties by rental income located in California and Texas.