Westwood Holdings Group Inc. Sells 53,318 Shares of Americold Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:COLD)

Westwood Holdings Group Inc. lowered its position in shares of Americold Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:COLD) by 8.6% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 566,236 shares of the company’s stock after selling 53,318 shares during the period. Westwood Holdings Group Inc.’s holdings in Americold Realty Trust were worth $12,117,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Squarepoint Ops LLC raised its stake in shares of Americold Realty Trust by 21.2% during the fourth quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 85,080 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,821,000 after buying an additional 14,897 shares during the last quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP bought a new stake in shares of Americold Realty Trust during the 4th quarter valued at $497,000. Nissay Asset Management Corp Japan ADV raised its position in shares of Americold Realty Trust by 4.0% during the 4th quarter. Nissay Asset Management Corp Japan ADV now owns 38,703 shares of the company’s stock valued at $828,000 after acquiring an additional 1,492 shares during the last quarter. Nomura Holdings Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Americold Realty Trust during the 4th quarter valued at $608,000. Finally, Lazard Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of Americold Realty Trust by 22.3% during the 4th quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 23,119 shares of the company’s stock valued at $494,000 after acquiring an additional 4,219 shares during the last quarter. 98.14% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently commented on COLD. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on Americold Realty Trust from $23.00 to $18.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday. Barclays raised shares of Americold Realty Trust from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $26.00 to $21.00 in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. Citigroup lowered their price objective on shares of Americold Realty Trust from $25.00 to $23.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Scotiabank restated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $20.00 price objective on shares of Americold Realty Trust in a research report on Thursday, May 15th. Finally, Robert W. Baird lowered their price objective on shares of Americold Realty Trust from $27.00 to $23.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $26.09.

Americold Realty Trust Stock Down 0.7%

Shares of COLD stock opened at $18.07 on Tuesday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $19.76 and a 200-day moving average of $21.34. The company has a market capitalization of $5.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -53.15, a P/E/G ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 0.95. The company has a quick ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 0.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.11. Americold Realty Trust, Inc. has a 12-month low of $16.56 and a 12-month high of $30.45.

Americold Realty Trust (NYSE:COLD) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The company reported $0.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.35 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $628.98 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $667.18 million. Americold Realty Trust had a negative return on equity of 2.70% and a negative net margin of 3.54%. Americold Realty Trust’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.37 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Americold Realty Trust, Inc. will post 1.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Americold Realty Trust Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 28th were paid a dividend of $0.23 per share. This is a boost from Americold Realty Trust’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. This represents a $0.92 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.09%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 28th. Americold Realty Trust’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently -213.95%.

Insider Transactions at Americold Realty Trust

In other Americold Realty Trust news, CFO Jay Wells bought 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 12th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $17.91 per share, with a total value of $179,100.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 10,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $179,100. This trade represents a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO George F. Jr. Chappelle acquired 110,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 12th. The stock was bought at an average price of $17.99 per share, with a total value of $1,978,900.00. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer now directly owns 110,000 shares in the company, valued at $1,978,900. This represents a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Company insiders own 0.23% of the company’s stock.

Americold Realty Trust 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.