Utah Retirement Systems Raises Stake in Regency Centers Co. (NASDAQ:REG)

Utah Retirement Systems grew its stake in shares of Regency Centers Co. (NASDAQ:REG – Get Rating) by 2.0% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 30,680 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 600 shares during the period. Utah Retirement Systems’ holdings in Regency Centers were worth $1,652,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in REG. PGGM Investments purchased a new stake in shares of Regency Centers in the 3rd quarter worth about $93,351,000. State Street Corp boosted its position in shares of Regency Centers by 8.1% in the 1st quarter. State Street Corp now owns 11,923,732 shares of the company’s stock worth $857,927,000 after buying an additional 890,452 shares in the last quarter. Centersquare Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Regency Centers by 334.8% in the 3rd quarter. Centersquare Investment Management LLC now owns 1,126,085 shares of the company’s stock worth $60,640,000 after buying an additional 867,099 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Regency Centers by 119.7% in the 2nd quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 1,233,170 shares of the company’s stock worth $73,139,000 after buying an additional 671,905 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. boosted its position in shares of Regency Centers by 101.8% in the 3rd quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. now owns 1,179,901 shares of the company’s stock worth $63,538,000 after buying an additional 595,343 shares in the last quarter. 88.58% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have issued reports on REG. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Regency Centers from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their target price for the company from $70.00 to $72.00 in a report on Friday, December 16th. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Regency Centers from $62.00 to $69.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 6th. Finally, Robert W. Baird upgraded shares of Regency Centers from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $71.00 target price on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 5th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $68.27.

Regency Centers Stock Down 3.3 %

REG opened at $58.58 on Monday. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $64.30 and a 200 day moving average price of $61.45. The company has a market cap of $10.04 billion, a PE ratio of 20.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.75 and a beta of 1.15. Regency Centers Co. has a 1 year low of $51.97 and a 1 year high of $73.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.60, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a current ratio of 0.81.

Regency Centers (NASDAQ:REG – Get Rating) last posted its earnings results on Friday, February 10th. The company reported $0.98 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.98. The firm had revenue of $314.52 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $305.23 million. Regency Centers had a net margin of 39.45% and a return on equity of 7.59%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.01 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Regency Centers Co. will post 4.07 earnings per share for the current year.

Regency Centers Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 5th. Investors of record on Wednesday, March 15th will be given a dividend of $0.65 per share. This represents a $2.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.44%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, March 14th. Regency Centers’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 92.20%.

Regency Centers declared that its board has approved a stock buyback plan on Thursday, February 9th that allows the company to buyback $250.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to repurchase up to 2.3% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are generally an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at Regency Centers

In other Regency Centers news, CEO Lisa Palmer sold 15,180 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.58, for a total value of $995,504.40. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 106,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,951,480. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 1.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Regency Centers Company Profile

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Regency Centers Corp. operates as a real estate investment trust, which engages in the ownership, operation, and development of retail shopping centers. Its portfolio includes thriving properties merchandised with highly productive grocers, restaurants, service providers, and best-in-class retailers that connect to its neighborhoods, communities, and customers.