CareTrust REIT (NASDAQ:CTRE) Shares Gap Up – Here’s What Happened

CareTrust REIT, Inc. (NASDAQ:CTRE)’s share price gapped up prior to trading on Thursday . The stock had previously closed at $27.01, but opened at $27.86. CareTrust REIT shares last traded at $28.00, with a volume of 122,847 shares.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently issued reports on CTRE. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price objective on CareTrust REIT from $37.00 to $32.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Wedbush downgraded CareTrust REIT from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $34.00 to $26.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised CareTrust REIT from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $31.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Thursday. BMO Capital Markets downgraded CareTrust REIT from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $34.00 to $32.00 in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on CareTrust REIT from $34.00 to $31.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, CareTrust REIT currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $31.00.

CareTrust REIT Price Performance

The stock has a market cap of $5.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 1.11. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $26.37 and a 200-day simple moving average of $28.69. The company has a current ratio of 3.82, a quick ratio of 3.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14.

CareTrust REIT (NASDAQ:CTRE) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.29 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.41 by ($0.12). CareTrust REIT had a net margin of 42.22% and a return on equity of 5.59%. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.25 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that CareTrust REIT, Inc. will post 1.71 EPS for the current year.

CareTrust REIT Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st were given a $0.29 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 31st. This represents a $1.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.22%. CareTrust REIT’s dividend payout ratio is currently 146.84%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On CareTrust REIT

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of CTRE. US Bancorp DE lifted its position in shares of CareTrust REIT by 6.2% during the 3rd quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 11,786 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $364,000 after buying an additional 692 shares during the period. Amalgamated Bank lifted its position in shares of CareTrust REIT by 3.9% during the 3rd quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 44,808 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,383,000 after buying an additional 1,700 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of CareTrust REIT by 5.2% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 838,306 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $25,870,000 after buying an additional 41,623 shares during the period. Assetmark Inc. bought a new position in shares of CareTrust REIT during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $730,000. Finally, Los Angeles Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of CareTrust REIT during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $708,000. Institutional investors own 87.77% of the company’s stock.

CareTrust REIT Company 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.