American Healthcare REIT, Inc. (NYSE:AHR) Short Interest Up 68.5% in December

American Healthcare REIT, Inc. (NYSE:AHR) was the target of a large growth in short interest in December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 9,150,000 shares, a growth of 68.5% from the December 15th total of 5,430,000 shares. Currently, 6.0% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 1,900,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 4.8 days.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have issued reports on AHR shares. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on shares of American Healthcare REIT from $28.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, November 18th. Truist Financial upped their target price on American Healthcare REIT from $27.00 to $29.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 15th. JMP Securities boosted their price objective on American Healthcare REIT from $18.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a report on Friday, September 20th. Bank of America lifted their target price on shares of American Healthcare REIT from $27.00 to $31.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 24th. Finally, Colliers Securities raised shares of American Healthcare REIT from a “hold” rating to a “moderate buy” rating in a research note on Sunday, October 13th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, American Healthcare REIT presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $26.00.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On American Healthcare REIT

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Diversify Advisory Services LLC increased its stake in shares of American Healthcare REIT by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. Diversify Advisory Services LLC now owns 35,070 shares of the company’s stock worth $955,000 after purchasing an additional 436 shares during the period. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC increased its position in American Healthcare REIT by 32.8% in the 4th quarter. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC now owns 12,581 shares of the company’s stock worth $358,000 after buying an additional 3,110 shares during the period. Arkadios Wealth Advisors lifted its holdings in shares of American Healthcare REIT by 46.7% during the fourth quarter. Arkadios Wealth Advisors now owns 45,451 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,292,000 after buying an additional 14,464 shares during the last quarter. Selective Wealth Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of American Healthcare REIT in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $359,000. Finally, Merit Financial Group LLC grew its stake in shares of American Healthcare REIT by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 184,234 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,236,000 after acquiring an additional 2,997 shares during the last quarter. 16.68% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

American Healthcare REIT Stock Down 0.9 %

Shares of NYSE AHR traded down $0.25 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $28.46. The company had a trading volume of 163,791 shares, compared to its average volume of 960,550. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $28.07 and its 200-day moving average is $23.59. American Healthcare REIT has a twelve month low of $12.63 and a twelve month high of $29.99. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.36 billion and a PE ratio of -59.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59, a quick ratio of 0.37 and a current ratio of 0.37.

American Healthcare REIT (NYSE:AHR) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, November 12th. The company reported ($0.03) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.32 by ($0.35). American Healthcare REIT had a negative return on equity of 1.87% and a negative net margin of 1.84%. The company had revenue of $523.81 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $474.26 million. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 12.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that American Healthcare REIT will post 1.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

American Healthcare REIT Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 17th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be issued a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 31st. This represents a $1.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.51%. American Healthcare REIT’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -208.33%.

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.