CareTrust REIT (NASDAQ:CTRE) Lifted to Hold at Zacks Investment Research

Zacks Investment Research upgraded shares of CareTrust REIT (NASDAQ:CTRE – Get Rating) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a report issued on Wednesday morning, Zacks.com reports.

According to Zacks, “CareTrust REIT, Inc. is a real estate investment trust. It is primarily engaged in the ownership, acquisition and leasing of healthcare-related properties. The Company leases healthcare facilities to healthcare operators in triple-net lease arrangements. CareTrust REIT, Inc. is based in United States. “

A number of other research analysts also recently issued reports on the company. StockNews.com assumed coverage on CareTrust REIT in a research note on Thursday, March 31st. They set a hold rating for the company. BMO Capital Markets downgraded CareTrust REIT from an outperform rating to a market perform rating and set a $20.00 price target for the company. in a research note on Friday, March 11th. Barclays downgraded CareTrust REIT from an overweight rating to an equal weight rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $22.00 to $17.00 in a research note on Monday, April 18th. Raymond James dropped their price target on CareTrust REIT from $27.00 to $23.00 and set a strong-buy rating for the company in a research note on Friday, March 18th. Finally, TheStreet cut CareTrust REIT from a b rating to a c+ rating in a report on Monday, February 14th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of Hold and an average price target of $21.43.

Shares of CareTrust REIT stock opened at $16.26 on Wednesday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $18.03 and its 200-day simple moving average is $20.12. CareTrust REIT has a 1-year low of $16.25 and a 1-year high of $24.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.74, a current ratio of 0.88 and a quick ratio of 0.88. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.58 billion, a PE ratio of 21.97 and a beta of 1.16.

CareTrust REIT (NASDAQ:CTRE – Get Rating) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 15th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.19 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the Zacks’ consensus estimate of $0.25 by ($0.06). CareTrust REIT had a net margin of 37.42% and a return on equity of 7.81%. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.36 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that CareTrust REIT will post 1.53 EPS for the current year.

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, March 31st were issued a dividend of $0.275 per share. This represents a $1.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.77%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 30th. This is a positive change from CareTrust REIT’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. CareTrust REIT’s dividend payout ratio is presently 148.65%.

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Yousif Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in CareTrust REIT during the 4th quarter valued at $2,004,000. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. raised its holdings in CareTrust REIT by 13.1% during the 4th quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 28,984 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $662,000 after buying an additional 3,365 shares during the period. AlphaCrest Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in CareTrust REIT during the 3rd quarter valued at $542,000. Dupont Capital Management Corp increased its stake in CareTrust REIT by 92.8% in the fourth quarter. Dupont Capital Management Corp now owns 40,046 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $914,000 after purchasing an additional 19,273 shares during the period. Finally, LSV Asset Management increased its stake in CareTrust REIT by 4.5% in the fourth quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 313,515 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $7,158,000 after purchasing an additional 13,420 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 85.72% of the company’s stock.

CareTrust REIT Company Profile (Get Rating)

CareTrust REIT, Inc is a self-administered, publicly-traded real estate investment trust engaged in the ownership, acquisition, development and leasing of skilled nursing, seniors housing and other healthcare-related properties. With a nationwide portfolio of long-term net-leased properties, and a growing portfolio of quality operators leasing them, CareTrust REIT is pursuing both external and organic growth opportunities across the United States.

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