Americold Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:COLD) Sees Significant Growth in Short Interest

Americold Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:COLD) saw a significant increase in short interest during the month of October. As of October 15th, there was short interest totalling 7,600,000 shares, an increase of 6.1% from the September 30th total of 7,160,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 1,700,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 4.5 days.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently commented on the company. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Americold Realty Trust from $24.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 28th. Barclays lifted their price target on Americold Realty Trust from $25.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday. Truist Financial increased their price objective on Americold Realty Trust from $31.00 to $33.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 16th. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on shares of Americold Realty Trust from $33.00 to $34.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 28th. Finally, Scotiabank upped their price target on shares of Americold Realty Trust from $30.00 to $31.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, August 19th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $31.18.

Americold Realty Trust Stock Performance

NYSE:COLD traded down $0.29 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $25.39. The stock had a trading volume of 1,093,255 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,159,212. The company has a quick ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 0.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. The stock has a market cap of $7.21 billion, a P/E ratio of -25.42, a P/E/G ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 0.60. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $27.89 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $26.75. Americold Realty Trust has a 12-month low of $21.87 and a 12-month high of $30.92.

Americold Realty Trust (NYSE:COLD) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 8th. The company reported ($0.23) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.31 by ($0.54). The firm had revenue of $660.96 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $653.74 million. Americold Realty Trust had a negative return on equity of 7.74% and a negative net margin of 10.60%. The company’s revenue was up 1.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.28 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that Americold Realty Trust will post 1.39 EPS for the current year.

Americold Realty Trust Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 30th were issued a $0.22 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 30th. This represents a $0.88 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.47%. Americold Realty Trust’s dividend payout ratio is currently -87.13%.

Institutional Trading of Americold Realty Trust

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. lifted its holdings in Americold Realty Trust by 134.1% in the first quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. now owns 1,105,589 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,551,000 after acquiring an additional 633,335 shares during the period. State of Alaska Department of Revenue lifted its stake in shares of Americold Realty Trust by 5.6% in the first quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 135,202 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,368,000 after purchasing an additional 7,213 shares during the period. Norden Group LLC purchased a new stake in Americold Realty Trust during the first quarter worth about $220,000. HB Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Americold Realty Trust during the first quarter worth about $526,000. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets grew its position in Americold Realty Trust by 65.9% during the first quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 245,802 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,125,000 after buying an additional 97,601 shares during the period. 98.14% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Americold Realty Trust

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.