Real estate investment trust (REIT) Healthpeak Properties Inc (NYSE:PEAK) is up 0.6% to trade at $34.20 this afternoon, attempting to recover from its recent pullback on the charts. Longer term, the equity remains 22% higher year-to-date, despite its early November plunge. Today's shift comes just as the security nears a historically bullish trendline, meaning now may be the time to bet on PEAK's next leg higher.
According to Schaeffer's Senior Quantitative Analyst Rocky White, the security is trading within one standard deviation of its 200-day moving average, after spending a notable amount of time above this trendline in recent weeks. Similar pullbacks have occurred two other times over the past three years, resulting in an average one-month gain of 16.2%, with 100% of the returns positive. A move of this magnitude from current levels would put PEAK above $39.73 by mid-December -- territory not seen since April 2015.
During the most recent reporting period, short interest on Healthpeak Properties saw a 6% increase. These bearish bets now account for nearly 5% of the stock's total available float, or 7.9 times the average daily pace of trading, meaning there is plenty of room for short covering to fuel upside for the shares.
There is also room for upgrades on the equity, considering eight of 20 analysts maintain a tepid "hold" recommendation on Healthpeak Properties. Bull notes could draw more buyers to PEAK's table.