Maryland State Retirement & Pension System Grows Holdings in CareTrust REIT, Inc. (NASDAQ:CTRE)

Maryland State Retirement & Pension System lifted its holdings in CareTrust REIT, Inc. (NASDAQ:CTRE) by 21.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 63,082 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after buying an additional 11,007 shares during the quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System’s holdings in CareTrust REIT were worth $1,706,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Signaturefd LLC boosted its stake in CareTrust REIT by 20.3% in the 4th quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 2,628 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $71,000 after purchasing an additional 443 shares in the last quarter. WealthShield Partners LLC boosted its stake in CareTrust REIT by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. WealthShield Partners LLC now owns 49,119 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,343,000 after purchasing an additional 490 shares in the last quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP boosted its stake in CareTrust REIT by 3.2% in the 3rd quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 17,097 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $528,000 after purchasing an additional 533 shares in the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. boosted its stake in CareTrust REIT by 4.9% in the 4th quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 11,384 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $308,000 after purchasing an additional 534 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. boosted its stake in CareTrust REIT by 50.0% in the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,808 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $49,000 after purchasing an additional 603 shares in the last quarter. 87.77% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

CareTrust REIT Price Performance

CTRE opened at $28.70 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a quick ratio of 3.82 and a current ratio of 3.82. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.33, a P/E/G ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 1.11. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $26.66 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $28.64. CareTrust REIT, Inc. has a 52-week low of $23.26 and a 52-week high of $33.15.

CareTrust REIT (NASDAQ:CTRE) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.29 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.41 by ($0.12). CareTrust REIT had a return on equity of 5.59% and a net margin of 42.22%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.25 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that CareTrust REIT, Inc. will post 1.71 EPS for the current year.

CareTrust REIT Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be paid a $0.335 dividend. This represents a $1.34 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.67%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. This is a boost from CareTrust REIT’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.29. CareTrust REIT’s dividend payout ratio is 146.84%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on CTRE shares. BMO Capital Markets cut shares of CareTrust REIT from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $34.00 to $32.00 in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Wedbush reiterated an “underperform” rating and issued a $26.00 price target on shares of CareTrust REIT in a research note on Friday, March 14th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of CareTrust REIT from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $31.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Thursday, March 13th. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their target price on shares of CareTrust REIT from $37.00 to $32.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of CareTrust REIT from $34.00 to $31.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 10th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $31.00.

CareTrust REIT Profile

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.