Short Interest in UMH Properties, Inc. (NYSE:UMH) Increases By 51.4%

UMH Properties, Inc. (NYSE:UMH) was the recipient of a significant increase in short interest in the month of August. As of August 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,120,000 shares, an increase of 51.4% from the July 31st total of 739,700 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 465,200 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.4 days.

Insider Activity

In other UMH Properties news, Director Kiernan Conway sold 2,700 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $19.54, for a total transaction of $52,758.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 412 shares in the company, valued at $8,050.48. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, Director Kiernan Conway sold 2,700 shares of UMH Properties stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.54, for a total value of $52,758.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 412 shares in the company, valued at $8,050.48. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Michael P. Landy bought 4,700 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 18th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $15.45 per share, with a total value of $72,615.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 341,796 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,280,748.20. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Company insiders own 8.63% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of UMH Properties

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of UMH Properties by 10.6% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,541,226 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $100,212,000 after purchasing an additional 629,427 shares during the period. Panagora Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of UMH Properties during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,819,000. Kennedy Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in UMH Properties by 245.9% in the 1st quarter. Kennedy Capital Management LLC now owns 664,377 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $10,789,000 after buying an additional 472,307 shares during the period. EntryPoint Capital LLC raised its holdings in shares of UMH Properties by 843.9% in the 1st quarter. EntryPoint Capital LLC now owns 2,020 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 1,806 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Swiss National Bank grew its holdings in shares of UMH Properties by 1.9% in the 1st quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 124,500 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $2,022,000 after purchasing an additional 2,300 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 75.40% of the company’s stock.

UMH Properties Stock Performance

Shares of UMH opened at $19.29 on Thursday. UMH Properties has a 12-month low of $13.26 and a 12-month high of $19.79. The company has a current ratio of 6.77, a quick ratio of 6.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.49. The company has a 50-day moving average of $17.65 and a two-hundred day moving average of $16.25. The stock has a market cap of $1.36 billion, a P/E ratio of -128.60, a PEG ratio of 3.49 and a beta of 1.29.

UMH Properties (NYSE:UMH) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 6th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.01 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.22 by ($0.21). UMH Properties had a return on equity of 3.17% and a net margin of 5.79%. The business had revenue of $60.33 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $59.84 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.21 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that UMH Properties will post 0.93 EPS for the current fiscal year.

UMH Properties Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 16th. Investors of record on Thursday, August 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.215 per share. This represents a $0.86 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.46%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 15th. UMH Properties’s dividend payout ratio is currently -573.33%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on UMH shares. William Blair reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of UMH Properties in a report on Monday, May 13th. StockNews.com raised shares of UMH Properties from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 13th. Wedbush increased their price objective on UMH Properties from $17.00 to $20.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, August 8th. Alliance Global Partners initiated coverage on shares of UMH Properties in a report on Thursday, July 18th. They set a “buy” rating and a $21.00 target price for the company. Finally, B. Riley increased their price target on shares of UMH Properties from $18.50 to $22.50 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 15th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $21.25.

UMH Properties Company Profile

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.