Royal London Asset Management Ltd. Buys 259,902 Shares of CareTrust REIT, Inc. (NASDAQ:CTRE)

Royal London Asset Management Ltd. grew its stake in CareTrust REIT, Inc. (NASDAQ:CTRE) by 37.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 950,977 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after acquiring an additional 259,902 shares during the period. Royal London Asset Management Ltd.’s holdings in CareTrust REIT were worth $25,724,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its holdings in CareTrust REIT by 381.2% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 6,878,379 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $212,267,000 after purchasing an additional 5,448,904 shares during the period. Eagle Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in CareTrust REIT by 22.4% during the third quarter. Eagle Asset Management Inc. now owns 428,699 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $13,264,000 after purchasing an additional 78,560 shares during the period. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. bought a new position in CareTrust REIT during the third quarter worth about $7,475,000. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in CareTrust REIT by 7.4% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,732,609 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $115,209,000 after purchasing an additional 258,271 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its position in CareTrust REIT by 5.3% during the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 2,505,883 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $67,784,000 after acquiring an additional 126,280 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 87.77% of the company’s stock.

CareTrust REIT Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:CTRE opened at $28.70 on Friday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $26.66 and its 200 day simple moving average is $28.64. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 3.82 and a quick ratio of 3.82. CareTrust REIT, Inc. has a 1 year low of $23.26 and a 1 year high of $33.15.

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

CareTrust REIT Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be paid a dividend of $0.335 per share. This represents a $1.34 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.67%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. This is a boost from CareTrust REIT’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.29. CareTrust REIT’s payout ratio is presently 146.84%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CTRE has been the subject of several research reports. BMO Capital Markets downgraded shares of CareTrust REIT from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $34.00 to $32.00 in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price objective on shares of CareTrust REIT from $37.00 to $32.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of CareTrust REIT from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $31.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Thursday, March 13th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of CareTrust REIT from $34.00 to $31.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, March 10th. Finally, Wedbush restated an “underperform” rating and set a $26.00 price objective on shares of CareTrust REIT in a research report on Friday, March 14th. One research 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, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $31.00.

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.