United Dominion Realty Trust (NYSE:UDR) Lowered to "Sell" Rating by Wall Street Zen

Key Points

• United Dominion Realty Trust (NYSE:UDR) has been downgraded from a "hold" to a "sell" rating by Wall Street Zen, reflecting growing concerns among analysts about its stock performance.
• Despite the downgrade, the current consensus rating on the stock remains "Hold" with a target price of $45.57, with mixed ratings from various analysts.
• The company reported earnings of $0.64 per share for the last quarter, which beat analysts' estimates, but its stock has been trading down by 1.7% recently.

Wall Street Zen cut shares of United Dominion Realty Trust (NYSE:UDR - Free Report) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a report published on Saturday morning.

Other research analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. Piper Sandler restated a "neutral" rating and issued a $43.00 target price (down previously from $48.00) on shares of United Dominion Realty Trust in a report on Monday, August 4th. UBS Group cut their price target on shares of United Dominion Realty Trust from $50.00 to $45.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, July 15th. Evercore ISI cut their price target on shares of United Dominion Realty Trust from $46.00 to $45.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, August 4th. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price target on shares of United Dominion Realty Trust from $43.00 to $44.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a report on Thursday, May 8th. Finally, Scotiabank cut their price target on shares of United Dominion Realty Trust from $51.00 to $48.00 and set a "sector perform" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, June 13th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $45.57.

United Dominion Realty Trust Trading Down 1.5%

Shares of United Dominion Realty Trust stock traded down $0.57 on Friday, hitting $37.52. The stock had a trading volume of 1,675,616 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,256,802. The company has a quick ratio of 5.22, a current ratio of 5.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.76. United Dominion Realty Trust has a one year low of $36.61 and a one year high of $47.55. The stock has a market cap of $12.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 98.73, a PEG ratio of 9.54 and a beta of 0.84. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $40.54 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $41.72.

United Dominion Realty Trust (NYSE:UDR - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.62 by $0.02. United Dominion Realty Trust had a net margin of 7.81% and a return on equity of 4.11%. The firm had revenue of $423.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $422.64 million. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.62 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 2.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that United Dominion Realty Trust will post 2.51 EPS for the current year.

United Dominion Realty Trust Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 31st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 10th were given a $0.43 dividend. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.6%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, July 10th. United Dominion Realty Trust's payout ratio is currently 452.63%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On United Dominion Realty Trust

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of UDR. Capital Research Global Investors grew its stake in shares of United Dominion Realty Trust by 64.1% during the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 13,060,120 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $566,940,000 after purchasing an additional 5,101,668 shares during the period. Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in shares of United Dominion Realty Trust during the 1st quarter valued at about $79,487,000. Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in shares of United Dominion Realty Trust by 54.2% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 4,853,979 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $210,711,000 after purchasing an additional 1,706,037 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. grew its stake in shares of United Dominion Realty Trust by 21.5% during the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 9,155,231 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $413,542,000 after purchasing an additional 1,619,997 shares during the period. Finally, Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH bought a new stake in shares of United Dominion Realty Trust during the 4th quarter valued at about $42,073,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.82% of the company's stock.

United Dominion Realty Trust Company Profile

UDR, Inc NYSE: UDR, an S&P 500 company, is a leading multifamily real estate investment trust with a demonstrated performance history of delivering superior and dependable returns by successfully managing, buying, selling, developing and redeveloping attractive real estate communities in targeted U.S.