Americold Realty Trust (NYSE:COLD) Downgraded to “Neutral” Rating by BNP Paribas Exane

BNP Paribas Exane cut shares of Americold Realty Trust (NYSE:COLD) from an outperform rating to a neutral rating in a research note issued to investors on Thursday, Marketbeat Ratings reports. BNP Paribas Exane currently has $18.00 price target on the stock.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently commented on COLD. Scotiabank reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and issued a $20.00 target price on shares of Americold Realty Trust in a research report on Thursday, May 15th. Robert W. Baird decreased their target price on shares of Americold Realty Trust from $27.00 to $23.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 16th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of Americold Realty Trust from $23.00 to $18.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, May 19th. Barclays raised shares of Americold Realty Trust from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $26.00 to $21.00 in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Finally, Citigroup cut their target price on shares of Americold Realty Trust from $25.00 to $23.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $25.42.

Americold Realty Trust Price Performance

COLD stock opened at $17.39 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11, a quick ratio of 0.15 and a current ratio of 0.15. Americold Realty Trust has a 52 week low of $16.11 and a 52 week high of $30.45. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $18.24 and its 200 day moving average is $20.60. The firm has a market cap of $4.95 billion, a P/E ratio of -51.15, a P/E/G ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 0.84.

Americold Realty Trust (NYSE:COLD) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The company reported $0.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.35 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $628.98 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $667.18 million. Americold Realty Trust had a negative return on equity of 2.70% and a negative net margin of 3.54%. Americold Realty Trust’s revenue was down 5.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.37 EPS. Research analysts predict that Americold Realty Trust will post 1.47 earnings per share for the current year.

Americold Realty Trust Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Investors of record on Monday, June 30th will be given a dividend of $0.23 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 30th. This represents a $0.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.29%. Americold Realty Trust’s dividend payout ratio is -213.95%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO George F. Jr. Chappelle acquired 110,000 shares of Americold Realty Trust stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 12th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $17.99 per share, with a total value of $1,978,900.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 110,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,978,900. This trade represents a ∞ increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Jay Wells acquired 10,000 shares of Americold Realty Trust stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 12th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $17.91 per share, for a total transaction of $179,100.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 10,000 shares in the company, valued at $179,100. This trade represents a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.23% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Americold Realty Trust

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its position in shares of Americold Realty Trust by 10.2% during the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 54,226 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,160,000 after acquiring an additional 5,025 shares during the period. Sanctuary Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Americold Realty Trust by 22.2% in the fourth quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 22,619 shares of the company’s stock worth $498,000 after buying an additional 4,105 shares during the last quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings 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 buying an additional 2,033 shares during the last quarter. Pasadena Private Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of Americold Realty Trust in the fourth quarter worth $410,000. Finally, Handelsbanken Fonder AB raised its holdings in shares of Americold Realty Trust by 10.6% in the fourth quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 81,700 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,748,000 after buying an additional 7,800 shares during the last quarter. 98.14% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.