American Healthcare REIT, Inc. (NYSE:AHR) Sees Significant Increase in Short Interest

American Healthcare REIT, Inc. (NYSE:AHR) was the target of a significant increase in short interest during the month of September. As of September 15th, there was short interest totaling 5,750,000 shares, an increase of 54.6% from the August 31st total of 3,720,000 shares. Currently, 3.4% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 1,470,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 3.9 days. Based on an average daily volume of 1,470,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 3.9 days. Currently, 3.4% of the shares of the company are sold short.

American Healthcare REIT Stock Performance

Shares of AHR stock opened at $40.17 on Thursday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $41.62 and a 200 day moving average of $36.53. American Healthcare REIT has a 52 week low of $23.66 and a 52 week high of $43.52. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -182.59, a PEG ratio of 2.11 and a beta of 0.98. The company has a quick ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 0.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41.

American Healthcare REIT (NYSE:AHR) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 7th. The company reported $0.42 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.40 by $0.02. American Healthcare REIT had a negative return on equity of 1.43% and a negative net margin of 1.56%.The company had revenue of $542.50 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $539.49 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.33 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 7.5% on a year-over-year basis. American Healthcare REIT has set its FY 2025 guidance at 1.640-1.680 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that American Healthcare REIT will post 1.41 earnings per share for the current year.

American Healthcare REIT Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 17th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, September 30th will be issued a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, September 30th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.5%. American Healthcare REIT’s dividend payout ratio is -454.55%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other American Healthcare REIT news, EVP Mark E. Foster sold 3,850 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $41.89, for a total transaction of $161,276.50. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 59,100 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,475,699. This represents a 6.12% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 0.92% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On American Healthcare REIT

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Sheets Smith Investment Management bought a new position in American Healthcare REIT in the third quarter worth $648,000. Cambridge Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of American Healthcare REIT in the 3rd quarter worth about $504,000. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in shares of American Healthcare REIT by 19.6% in the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,053 shares of the company’s stock worth $86,000 after purchasing an additional 337 shares during the last quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC raised its position in shares of American Healthcare REIT by 10.9% in the 2nd quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 8,909 shares of the company’s stock worth $327,000 after purchasing an additional 876 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Total Investment Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of American Healthcare REIT in the 2nd quarter worth about $32,000. Institutional investors own 16.68% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AHR has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of American Healthcare REIT in a research report on Wednesday. JMP Securities increased their price objective on American Healthcare REIT from $40.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, August 11th. KeyCorp increased their price objective on American Healthcare REIT from $34.00 to $40.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 11th. Robert W. Baird began coverage on American Healthcare REIT in a research note on Friday, July 18th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $41.00 price objective for the company. Finally, UBS Group began coverage on American Healthcare REIT in a research note on Friday, September 19th. They set a “buy” rating and a $51.00 price objective for the company. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have assigned a Buy rating and one has given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, American Healthcare REIT currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $44.11.

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.