Jefferies Financial Group Inc. Takes Position in American Healthcare REIT, Inc. (NYSE:AHR)

Key Points

• Jefferies Financial Group Inc. invested approximately $3.55 million in American Healthcare REIT, acquiring 117,000 shares during the first quarter of 2023.
• American Healthcare REIT reported a quarterly earnings per share of $0.38, exceeding estimates, with a revenue of $540.60 million for the quarter, marking an 8.2% increase compared to the same period last year.
• The company also announced a quarterly dividend of $0.25 per share, resulting in an annualized yield of 2.6%, despite a negative dividend payout ratio of -370.37%.

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. bought a new stake in American Healthcare REIT, Inc. (NYSE:AHR - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 117,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,545,000. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. owned approximately 0.07% of American Healthcare REIT as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of AHR. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its holdings in shares of American Healthcare REIT by 45.6% in the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,336,225 shares of the company's stock valued at $37,976,000 after purchasing an additional 418,589 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of American Healthcare REIT during the fourth quarter worth $19,339,000. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA raised its holdings in shares of American Healthcare REIT by 39.7% during the fourth quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 46,479 shares of the company's stock worth $1,321,000 after acquiring an additional 13,208 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its holdings in shares of American Healthcare REIT by 7.6% during the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 179,809 shares of the company's stock worth $5,110,000 after acquiring an additional 12,624 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of American Healthcare REIT by 46.4% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,699,793 shares of the company's stock worth $105,171,000 after acquiring an additional 1,172,670 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 16.68% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CIO Stefan K.L. Oh sold 3,860 shares of American Healthcare REIT stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.10, for a total transaction of $139,346.00. Following the sale, the executive directly owned 95,671 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,453,723.10. This trade represents a 3.88% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.92% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently issued reports on the company. Scotiabank assumed coverage on American Healthcare REIT in a report on Monday, June 30th. They set a "sector outperform" rating and a $42.00 price objective for the company. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on American Healthcare REIT in a report on Monday, April 28th. They set a "buy" rating and a $37.00 price objective for the company. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on American Healthcare REIT from $37.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 20th. Robert W. Baird initiated coverage on shares of American Healthcare REIT in a research report on Friday, July 18th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $41.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Truist Financial increased their target price on shares of American Healthcare REIT from $32.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, June 9th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $38.11.

American Healthcare REIT Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:AHR traded up $0.03 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $39.68. The company's stock had a trading volume of 53,682 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,626,969. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -147.16, a PEG ratio of 2.25 and a beta of 1.08. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $36.66 and its 200 day simple moving average is $32.50. American Healthcare REIT, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $16.34 and a fifty-two week high of $40.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a quick ratio of 0.38 and a current ratio of 0.38.

American Healthcare REIT (NYSE:AHR - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The company reported $0.38 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.37 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $540.60 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $542.32 million. American Healthcare REIT had a negative return on equity of 1.85% and a negative net margin of 1.96%. The firm's revenue was up 8.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.30 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that American Healthcare REIT, Inc. will post 1.41 earnings per share for the current year.

American Healthcare REIT Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 18th. Investors of record on Monday, June 30th were given a dividend of $0.25 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 30th. This represents a $1.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.5%. American Healthcare REIT's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -370.37%.

American Healthcare REIT Company Profile

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.