Raymond James Financial Inc. Purchases Shares of 1,813,253 CareTrust REIT, Inc. (NASDAQ:CTRE)

Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in CareTrust REIT, Inc. (NASDAQ:CTRE - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 1,813,253 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock, valued at approximately $49,048,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. owned 1.06% of CareTrust REIT as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Martingale Asset Management L P increased its position in shares of CareTrust REIT by 396.7% during the fourth quarter. Martingale Asset Management L P now owns 126,158 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $3,413,000 after acquiring an additional 100,757 shares in the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC increased its holdings in CareTrust REIT by 63.4% in the 4th quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 1,419,738 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $38,404,000 after acquiring an additional 550,900 shares in the last quarter. FIL Ltd raised its stake in CareTrust REIT by 5,870.5% during the 4th quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 126,456 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $3,421,000 after acquiring an additional 124,338 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc lifted its holdings in CareTrust REIT by 14.8% during the fourth quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 1,222,409 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $33,066,000 after purchasing an additional 157,403 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. lifted its holdings in CareTrust REIT by 26.7% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,275,644 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $34,506,000 after purchasing an additional 268,971 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 87.77% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

CTRE has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Wedbush reissued an "underperform" rating and set a $26.00 price target on shares of CareTrust REIT in a report on Friday, March 14th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of CareTrust REIT from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $31.00 price objective for the company in a report on Thursday, March 13th. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their target price on shares of CareTrust REIT from $37.00 to $32.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 21st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on shares of CareTrust REIT from $34.00 to $31.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 10th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $31.00.

CareTrust REIT Price Performance

Shares of CareTrust REIT stock traded up $0.14 during trading on Friday, reaching $28.76. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,294,136 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,773,175. The company has a market capitalization of $5.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 0.88. CareTrust REIT, Inc. has a 12-month low of $23.26 and a 12-month high of $33.15. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $27.32 and a 200-day moving average price of $28.27. The company has a quick ratio of 3.82, a current ratio of 3.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14.

CareTrust REIT (NASDAQ:CTRE - Get Free Report) last issued 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 quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.25 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that CareTrust REIT, Inc. will post 1.71 EPS for the current year.

CareTrust REIT Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st were issued a dividend of $0.335 per share. This is an increase from CareTrust REIT's previous quarterly dividend of $0.29. This represents a $1.34 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.66%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 31st. CareTrust REIT's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.