American Healthcare REIT drops after $389 mln stock offering

American Healthcare REIT's AHR.N shares down 2.8% premarket at $47.84 after overnight follow-on priced

Senior housing communities and skilled nursing facilities owner late Thurs announced 8.1 mln shares for ~$388.8 mln expected gross proceeds

Offering priced at $48, 2.5% below stock's last close of $49.23

Irvine, California-based AHR entered into 18-month forward sale agreement with underwriter RBC

Upon settlement of agreement, it expects to use net offering proceeds for general corp purposes, including potential future investments

As of Nov 14, AHR had ~178.2 mln shares outstanding, per the offering prospectus

A forward sale structure allows the REIT to lock in current stock price and delays new share issuance and garnering proceeds until they are needed, consequently avoiding immediate dilution

AHR shares on Thurs edged down 0.5%, trimming YTD gain to 73%. Stock hit a record intraday high of $50.80 during the session

11 of 12 analysts rate AHR "strong buy" or "buy", 1 rates "hold"; median PT of $55 up from $47 a month ago, per LSEG