UMH Properties (NYSE:UMH) Shares Gap Down – Should You Sell?

Shares of UMH Properties, Inc. (NYSE:UMH) gapped down before the market opened on Friday . The stock had previously closed at $17.77, but opened at $17.24. UMH Properties shares last traded at $17.55, with a volume of 34,781 shares.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on UMH shares. StockNews.com upgraded UMH Properties from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Wedbush reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $20.00 price target on shares of UMH Properties in a research report on Monday, January 13th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, UMH Properties has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $21.17.

UMH Properties Stock Up 0.3 %

The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $17.88 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $18.41. The firm has a market cap of $1.47 billion, a PE ratio of 137.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 1.17. The company has a current ratio of 8.48, a quick ratio of 8.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11.

UMH Properties (NYSE:UMH) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The real estate investment trust reported $0.23 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.23. UMH Properties had a net margin of 11.81% and a return on equity of 6.06%. The business had revenue of $61.23 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $62.82 million. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that UMH Properties, Inc. will post 0.93 EPS for the current fiscal year.

UMH Properties Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Investors of record on Thursday, May 15th will be given a $0.225 dividend. This represents a $0.90 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.05%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 15th. This is an increase from UMH Properties’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.22. UMH Properties’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 3,000.00%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On UMH Properties

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Bailard Inc. boosted its position in shares of UMH Properties by 11.1% during the 1st quarter. Bailard Inc. now owns 17,000 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $318,000 after acquiring an additional 1,700 shares during the last quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC lifted its position in UMH Properties by 5.0% during the first quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 22,380 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $419,000 after purchasing an additional 1,065 shares during the last quarter. Cloud Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in UMH Properties in the 1st quarter worth approximately $37,000. D.A. Davidson & CO. increased its holdings in shares of UMH Properties by 7.7% in the 1st quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 985,112 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $18,422,000 after buying an additional 70,695 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of UMH Properties by 3.6% in the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 38,816 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $726,000 after buying an additional 1,362 shares during the last quarter. 75.40% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.