UMH Properties (NYSE:UMH) Hits New 12-Month Low - What's Next?

Key Points

• UMH Properties' share price has hit a new 52-week low of $14.75, down from a previous close of $15.03, with over 1.4 million shares traded.
• The stock has been rated as a "sell" by Wall Street Zen, while Wedbush has upgraded it to a "hold," resulting in an average rating of "Moderate Buy" with a price target of $20.25.
• UMH Properties recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.225 per share, reflecting a 6.1% dividend yield, but has a notably high payout ratio of 642.86%.

UMH Properties, Inc. (NYSE:UMH - Get Free Report) hit a new 52-week low during trading on Friday . The stock traded as low as $14.75 and last traded at $14.75, with a volume of 1437768 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $15.03.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on UMH shares. Wall Street Zen cut UMH Properties from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Friday, July 18th. Wedbush upgraded shares of UMH Properties to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 2nd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $20.25.

UMH Properties Trading Up 3.2%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.08, a quick ratio of 8.56 and a current ratio of 8.56. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 108.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.53 and a beta of 1.07. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $15.95 and a 200 day simple moving average of $16.84.

UMH Properties (NYSE:UMH - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 6th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.23 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.25 by ($0.02). UMH Properties had a return on equity of 5.19% and a net margin of 12.18%.The business had revenue of $66.64 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $66.07 million. As a group, research analysts expect that UMH Properties, Inc. will post 0.93 EPS for the current year.

UMH Properties Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 15th were issued a dividend of $0.225 per share. This represents a $0.90 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 15th. UMH Properties's dividend payout ratio is 642.86%.

Insider Activity at UMH Properties

In related news, Director Angela D. Pruitt sold 1,600 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $16.06, for a total transaction of $25,696.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 9,905 shares of the company's stock, valued at $159,074.30. This represents a 13.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director William Edward Mitchell sold 75,849 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $16.32, for a total transaction of $1,237,855.68. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 41,368 shares of the company's stock, valued at $675,125.76. The trade was a 64.71% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 133,149 shares of company stock valued at $2,165,532 over the last quarter. 8.77% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On UMH Properties

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. GF Fund Management CO. LTD. bought a new position in UMH Properties in the fourth quarter valued at about $26,000. KBC Group NV acquired a new position in UMH Properties during the 1st quarter worth approximately $32,000. Stone House Investment Management LLC bought a new position in UMH Properties in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Summit Securities Group LLC acquired a new stake in UMH Properties in the first quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Finally, Cloud Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of UMH Properties during the first quarter worth $37,000. 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.