Healthcare Realty Trust Incorporated (HR) to Issue Quarterly Dividend of $0.31 on March 19th

Healthcare Realty Trust Incorporated (NYSE:HR) declared a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, February 19th, Wall Street Journal reports. Investors of record on Monday, March 3rd will be paid a dividend of 0.31 per share by the real estate investment trust on Wednesday, March 19th. This represents a $1.24 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 7.25%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 3rd.

Healthcare Realty Trust has increased its dividend payment by an average of 10.5% per year over the last three years. Healthcare Realty Trust has a dividend payout ratio of -364.7% meaning the company cannot currently cover its dividend with earnings alone and is relying on its balance sheet to cover its dividend payments. Equities research analysts expect Healthcare Realty Trust to earn $1.63 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.24 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 76.1%.

Healthcare Realty Trust Stock Up 1.8 %

Shares of Healthcare Realty Trust stock opened at $17.11 on Friday. Healthcare Realty Trust has a 52 week low of $12.77 and a 52 week high of $18.90. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.06 billion, a P/E ratio of -9.61 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $16.63 and a 200 day moving average price of $17.37.

Healthcare Realty Trust (NYSE:HR) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 19th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.39 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $309.77 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $303.81 million. Healthcare Realty Trust had a negative net margin of 51.60% and a negative return on equity of 11.20%. Healthcare Realty Trust’s revenue for the quarter was down 6.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.39 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Healthcare Realty Trust will post 1.59 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on HR shares. StockNews.com raised shares of Healthcare Realty Trust from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $16.00 price target on shares of Healthcare Realty Trust in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut shares of Healthcare Realty Trust from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $19.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Scotiabank reduced their price objective on shares of Healthcare Realty Trust from $18.00 to $17.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lowered shares of Healthcare Realty Trust from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their price target for the stock from $19.00 to $17.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $17.20.

Insider Transactions at Healthcare Realty Trust

In other news, COO Robert E. Hull sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $17.48, for a total value of $174,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 171,400 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,996,072. This represents a 5.51 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.56% of the company’s stock.

About Healthcare Realty Trust

Healthcare Realty Trust, Inc provides real estate investment services. It owns, leases, manages, acquires, finances, develops, and redevelops income-producing real estate properties associated primarily with the delivery of outpatient healthcare services throughout the United States of America. The company was founded by David R.