Americold Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:COLD) Sees Large Drop in Short Interest

Americold Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:COLD) was the recipient of a large decrease in short interest in February. As of February 15th, there was short interest totalling 5,860,000 shares, a decrease of 36.3% from the January 31st total of 9,200,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 2,030,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.9 days.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

COLD has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Citigroup cut their price objective on shares of Americold Realty Trust from $30.00 to $25.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Truist Financial reduced their price target on Americold Realty Trust from $33.00 to $30.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, December 5th. Raymond James dropped their price objective on Americold Realty Trust from $31.00 to $27.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Barclays decreased their price target on shares of Americold Realty Trust from $28.00 to $26.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, November 18th. Finally, Robert W. Baird cut their price target on shares of Americold Realty Trust from $31.00 to $28.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 8th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $29.17.

Americold Realty Trust Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE COLD traded down $0.43 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $21.99. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,833,339 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,081,803. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11, a quick ratio of 0.15 and a current ratio of 0.15. Americold Realty Trust has a 1-year low of $20.41 and a 1-year high of $30.45. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $21.65 and its 200-day moving average price is $24.46. The firm has a market cap of $6.25 billion, a P/E ratio of -64.67, a P/E/G ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 0.61.

Americold Realty Trust (NYSE:COLD) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The company reported $0.37 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.10 by $0.27. The company had revenue of $666.44 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $684.03 million. Americold Realty Trust had a negative return on equity of 2.70% and a negative net margin of 3.54%. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Americold Realty Trust will post 1.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Americold Realty Trust Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st were paid a $0.22 dividend. This represents a $0.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.00%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, December 31st. Americold Realty Trust’s payout ratio is -258.82%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Robert E. Harris sold 1,836 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $22.64, for a total transaction of $41,567.04. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 1,837 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $41,589.68. This represents a 49.99 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.17% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Americold Realty Trust

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of COLD. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Americold Realty Trust in the 4th quarter valued at about $478,674,000. Cohen & Steers Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Americold Realty Trust by 16.3% during the fourth quarter. Cohen & Steers Inc. now owns 28,837,300 shares of the company’s stock valued at $617,085,000 after buying an additional 4,049,374 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its holdings in shares of Americold Realty Trust by 40.8% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 13,261,431 shares of the company’s stock valued at $374,901,000 after buying an additional 3,844,603 shares during the last quarter. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. boosted its position in shares of Americold Realty Trust by 115.8% during the fourth quarter. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. now owns 6,387,738 shares of the company’s stock worth $136,698,000 after buying an additional 3,427,083 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. grew its holdings in Americold Realty Trust by 253.8% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,213,139 shares of the company’s stock worth $68,761,000 after buying an additional 2,304,867 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.14% of the company’s stock.

Americold Realty Trust Company Profile

Americold Realty Trust, Inc is a real estate investment trust, which focuses on the ownership, operation, development, and acquisition of temperature-controlled warehouses. It operates through the following segments: Warehouse, Third-Party Managed, Transportation, and Other. The Warehouse segment collects rent and storage fees from customers to store frozen and perishable food and other products within the firm’s real estate portfolio.