Franklin Resources Inc. Grows Holdings in Americold Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:COLD)

Franklin Resources Inc. increased its stake in shares of Americold Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:COLD) by 14.4% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 245,110 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 30,831 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc.’s holdings in Americold Realty Trust were worth $6,564,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Assetmark Inc. grew its position in Americold Realty Trust by 2,288.1% in the 3rd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 1,003 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 961 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in shares of Americold Realty Trust by 189.9% in the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,122 shares of the company’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 735 shares in the last quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P purchased a new stake in Americold Realty Trust during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $55,000. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its holdings in Americold Realty Trust by 29.5% during the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 3,880 shares of the company’s stock worth $110,000 after buying an additional 883 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Signaturefd LLC boosted its position in Americold Realty Trust by 22.7% in the 2nd quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 3,994 shares of the company’s stock valued at $102,000 after buying an additional 740 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.14% of the company’s stock.

Americold Realty Trust Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:COLD opened at $21.48 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11, a current ratio of 0.15 and a quick ratio of 0.15. Americold Realty Trust, Inc. has a 12 month low of $21.01 and a 12 month high of $30.59. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.11 billion, a P/E ratio of -21.27, a P/E/G ratio of 1.80 and a beta of 0.59. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $24.00 and its 200 day moving average price is $26.52.

Americold Realty Trust (NYSE:COLD) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The company reported ($0.01) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.34 by ($0.35). The firm had revenue of $674.17 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $663.87 million. Americold Realty Trust had a negative net margin of 10.63% and a negative return on equity of 8.08%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up .9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.32 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Americold Realty Trust, Inc. will post 1.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Americold Realty Trust Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be issued a $0.22 dividend. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.10%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, December 31st. Americold Realty Trust’s payout ratio is currently -87.13%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Robert W. Baird cut their price objective on Americold Realty Trust from $31.00 to $28.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 8th. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price target on Americold Realty Trust from $33.00 to $30.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on Americold Realty Trust from $33.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 28th. Raymond James reduced their target price on shares of Americold Realty Trust from $31.00 to $27.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Finally, Barclays lowered their price target on shares of Americold Realty Trust from $28.00 to $26.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, November 18th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $29.17.

Insider Transactions at Americold Realty Trust

In other news, SVP Robert E. Harris sold 1,836 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $22.64, for a total value of $41,567.04. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 1,837 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $41,589.68. This represents a 49.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.17% of the company’s stock.

Americold Realty Trust Profile

Americold is a global leader in temperature-controlled logistics real estate and value added services. Focused on the ownership, operation, acquisition and development of temperature-controlled warehouses, Americold owns and/or operates 245 temperature-controlled warehouses, with approximately 1.5 billion refrigerated cubic feet of storage, in North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and South America.