StockNews.com Upgrades UMH Properties (NYSE:UMH) to Hold

StockNews.com upgraded shares of UMH Properties (NYSE:UMH) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research report sent to investors on Saturday.

A number of other brokerages have also recently weighed in on UMH. B. Riley lifted their price objective on shares of UMH Properties from $18.50 to $22.50 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 15th. Wedbush boosted their price target on shares of UMH Properties from $17.00 to $20.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $21.25.

UMH Properties Stock Up 2.1 %

UMH stock opened at $19.53 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $1.54 billion, a PE ratio of 150.24, a PEG ratio of 3.43 and a beta of 1.30. UMH Properties has a one year low of $13.91 and a one year high of $20.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 8.48 and a current ratio of 8.48. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $19.21 and its 200-day moving average price is $17.81.

UMH Properties (NYSE:UMH) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.11 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.24 by ($0.13). The company had revenue of $60.67 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $61.57 million. UMH Properties had a net margin of 11.81% and a return on equity of 6.06%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.22 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that UMH Properties will post 0.93 EPS for the current year.

UMH Properties Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.215 per share. This represents a $0.86 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.40%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 15th. UMH Properties’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 661.59%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Samuel A. Landy sold 50,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $19.55, for a total value of $977,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,104,826 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $21,599,348.30. This represents a 4.33 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 8.63% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of UMH. State of Alaska Department of Revenue raised its stake in UMH Properties by 2.2% during the 3rd quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 31,304 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $614,000 after acquiring an additional 663 shares in the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. boosted its position in shares of UMH Properties by 36.8% in the 3rd quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 2,596 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $50,000 after purchasing an additional 698 shares during the period. Diversified Trust Co boosted its position in shares of UMH Properties by 7.2% in the 2nd quarter. Diversified Trust Co now owns 15,212 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $243,000 after purchasing an additional 1,024 shares during the period. Arizona State Retirement System grew its stake in UMH Properties by 6.4% during the 2nd quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 18,445 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $295,000 after buying an additional 1,111 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc. increased its position in UMH Properties by 2.4% during the second quarter. Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 48,046 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $768,000 after buying an additional 1,124 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.40% of the company’s stock.

About UMH Properties

UMH Properties, Inc, which was organized in 1968, is a public equity REIT that owns and operates 135 manufactured home communities containing approximately 25,800 developed homesites. These communities are located in New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Indiana, Michigan, Maryland, Alabama, South Carolina and Georgia.