JPMorgan Chase & Co. Sells 5,250,367 Shares of CareTrust REIT, Inc. (NASDAQ:CTRE)

JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased its stake in shares of CareTrust REIT, Inc. (NASDAQ:CTRE) by 76.3% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 1,628,012 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 5,250,367 shares during the quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s holdings in CareTrust REIT were worth $44,038,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in CTRE. Advantage Trust Co bought a new position in CareTrust REIT during the fourth quarter valued at about $30,000. Versant Capital Management Inc grew its holdings in shares of CareTrust REIT by 98.8% during the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 1,495 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 743 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. increased its position in shares of CareTrust REIT by 50.0% during the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,808 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $49,000 after purchasing an additional 603 shares during the period. Signaturefd LLC raised its stake in shares of CareTrust REIT by 20.3% in the fourth quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 2,628 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $71,000 after purchasing an additional 443 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in CareTrust REIT by 24.4% in the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 4,033 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $109,000 after purchasing an additional 790 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.77% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on CTRE shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of CareTrust REIT from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $31.00 price target on the stock in a report on Thursday, March 13th. Wedbush reissued an “underperform” rating and issued a $26.00 price target on shares of CareTrust REIT in a research report on Friday, March 14th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on CareTrust REIT from $34.00 to $31.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, March 10th. BMO Capital Markets cut CareTrust REIT from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $34.00 to $32.00 in a report on Monday, December 9th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price target on CareTrust REIT from $37.00 to $32.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 21st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, CareTrust REIT presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $31.00.

CareTrust REIT Stock Performance

NASDAQ:CTRE opened at $27.98 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 0.88. 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, Inc. has a 1 year low of $23.26 and a 1 year high of $33.15. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $27.03 and a 200-day moving average of $28.50.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 in the prior year, the company posted $0.25 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that CareTrust REIT, Inc. will post 1.71 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CareTrust REIT Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be issued a dividend of $0.335 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. This represents a $1.34 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.79%. This is a positive change from CareTrust REIT’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.29. CareTrust REIT’s dividend payout ratio is currently 169.62%.

About CareTrust REIT

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.