Wall Street Zen Downgrades Sun Communities (NYSE:SUI) to Sell

Wall Street Zen cut shares of Sun Communities (NYSE:SUI - Free Report) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research report released on Saturday.

Other analysts have also recently issued research reports about the company. Robert W. Baird dropped their target price on Sun Communities from $128.00 to $126.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. Bank of America raised their price objective on Sun Communities from $124.00 to $132.00 and gave the company an "underperform" rating in a research report on Monday, May 12th. JMP Securities reiterated a "market outperform" rating and issued a $140.00 target price on shares of Sun Communities in a report on Tuesday, May 20th. Colliers Securities initiated coverage on shares of Sun Communities in a research report on Friday, June 13th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $130.00 price target for the company. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on shares of Sun Communities in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $150.00 price objective on the stock. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $138.33.

Sun Communities Stock Up 0.1%

Shares of SUI traded up $0.15 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $126.09. 1,300,246 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 849,858. The company has a market capitalization of $16.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 203.37, a PEG ratio of 8.59 and a beta of 0.86. The company has a current ratio of 2.25, a quick ratio of 2.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.01. Sun Communities has a 52 week low of $109.22 and a 52 week high of $147.83. The company's 50 day moving average is $123.75 and its two-hundred day moving average is $125.29.

Sun Communities (NYSE:SUI - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, May 5th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.26 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.18 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $470.20 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $538.63 million. Sun Communities had a net margin of 2.85% and a return on equity of 1.41%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up .2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.19 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Sun Communities will post 6.77 earnings per share for the current year.

Sun Communities Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 30th will be paid a dividend of $1.04 per share. This is an increase from Sun Communities's previous quarterly dividend of $0.94. This represents a $4.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.30%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 30th. Sun Communities's payout ratio is presently 606.45%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Jeff Blau purchased 3,665 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 23rd. The stock was bought at an average price of $117.99 per share, with a total value of $432,433.35. Following the transaction, the director now owns 3,665 shares in the company, valued at $432,433.35. The trade was a ∞ increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 1.77% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of SUI. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Sun Communities by 2.3% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 17,947,285 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $2,308,739,000 after buying an additional 403,923 shares during the last quarter. Cohen & Steers Inc. raised its position in Sun Communities by 30.3% during the 4th quarter. Cohen & Steers Inc. now owns 16,373,446 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $2,013,414,000 after buying an additional 3,811,528 shares during the last quarter. Dodge & Cox lifted its stake in Sun Communities by 42.1% during the 1st quarter. Dodge & Cox now owns 13,647,820 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $1,755,656,000 after acquiring an additional 4,041,802 shares during the period. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Sun Communities by 51.3% in the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 7,917,870 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $973,660,000 after acquiring an additional 2,684,214 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Sun Communities in the 4th quarter valued at $888,783,000. 99.59% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Sun Communities

Established in 1975, Sun Communities, Inc became a publicly owned corporation in December 1993. The Company is a fully integrated REIT listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol: SUI. As of December 31, 2023, the Company owned, operated, or had an interest in a portfolio of 667 developed MH, RV and Marina properties comprising 179,310 developed sites and approximately 48,030 wet slips and dry storage spaces in the U.S., the UK and Canada.