Principal Financial Group Inc. Trims Stake in Americold Realty Trust Inc. $COLD

Principal Financial Group Inc. lessened its position in Americold Realty Trust Inc. (NYSE:COLD) by 45.7% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 8,226,394 shares of the company’s stock after selling 6,934,503 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned approximately 2.89% of Americold Realty Trust worth $100,691,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in COLD. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Americold Realty Trust during the second quarter valued at $206,317,000. State Street Corp increased its stake in shares of Americold Realty Trust by 4.8% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 10,705,522 shares of the company’s stock worth $180,437,000 after acquiring an additional 493,256 shares in the last quarter. Lasalle Investment Management Securities LLC lifted its position in Americold Realty Trust by 78.2% during the 2nd quarter. Lasalle Investment Management Securities LLC now owns 6,212,971 shares of the company’s stock valued at $103,322,000 after acquiring an additional 2,726,809 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its position in Americold Realty Trust by 31.7% during the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 5,158,328 shares of the company’s stock valued at $85,783,000 after acquiring an additional 1,241,241 shares during the period. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its stake in Americold Realty Trust by 0.5% during the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 4,127,284 shares of the company’s stock worth $50,518,000 after acquiring an additional 18,646 shares in the last quarter. 98.14% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. Evercore ISI decreased their target price on shares of Americold Realty Trust from $14.00 to $13.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, December 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on Americold Realty Trust from $15.00 to $12.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 14th. Barclays cut their target price on Americold Realty Trust from $17.00 to $15.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 13th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d)” rating on shares of Americold Realty Trust in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Finally, Truist Financial cut their price objective on shares of Americold Realty Trust from $17.00 to $16.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, December 24th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $13.92.

Americold Realty Trust Price Performance

COLD opened at $12.56 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 0.11 and a current ratio of 0.11. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.58 billion, a P/E ratio of -57.07, a P/E/G ratio of 4.40 and a beta of 0.91. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $12.42 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $13.22. Americold Realty Trust Inc. has a 52-week low of $10.10 and a 52-week high of $23.52.

Americold Realty Trust (NYSE:COLD) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 6th. The company reported $0.35 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.35. The firm had revenue of $663.67 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $659.51 million. Americold Realty Trust had a negative net margin of 2.39% and a negative return on equity of 1.96%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.35 earnings per share. Americold Realty Trust has set its FY 2025 guidance at 1.390-1.450 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Americold Realty Trust Inc. will post 1.47 EPS for the current year.

Americold Realty Trust Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 15th. Investors of record on Wednesday, December 31st were given a dividend of $0.23 per share. This represents a $0.92 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.3%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, December 31st. Americold Realty Trust’s dividend payout ratio is -418.18%.

About Americold Realty Trust

Americold Realty Trust is a real estate investment trust specializing in temperature-controlled warehousing and logistics solutions. The company owns, operates, and develops a global network of cold storage facilities designed to support the storage, handling, and distribution of perishable products. Services include blast freezing, repacking, labeling, cross-docking, and transportation management, all integrated to streamline clients’ cold chain operations and help ensure product quality and safety from origin to point of consumption.

With roots dating back to the early 20th century, Americold has expanded through strategic acquisitions and facility development to become one of the world’s largest publicly traded cold storage providers.