Sun Communities (NYSE:SUI) Downgraded to “Neutral” Rating by UBS Group

UBS Group cut shares of Sun Communities (NYSE:SUI) from a buy rating to a neutral rating in a research report report published on Thursday, MarketBeat reports. UBS Group currently has $134.00 price objective on the real estate investment trust’s stock, down from their prior price objective of $155.00.

A number of other brokerages have also recently commented on SUI. Robert W. Baird cut shares of Sun Communities from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price target for the company from $145.00 to $126.00 in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Sun Communities from $123.00 to $154.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, September 19th. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price target on shares of Sun Communities from $145.00 to $138.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Truist Financial raised their price objective on Sun Communities from $127.00 to $138.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 13th. Finally, StockNews.com raised Sun Communities from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $139.08.

Sun Communities Price Performance

Shares of Sun Communities stock traded up $1.29 on Thursday, hitting $125.38. 288,313 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 830,132. Sun Communities has a 12-month low of $110.98 and a 12-month high of $147.83. The company has a current ratio of 1.61, a quick ratio of 1.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93. The company has a market cap of $15.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 66.41, a P/E/G ratio of 0.53 and a beta of 0.91. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $134.46 and its 200 day simple moving average is $126.96.

Sun Communities (NYSE:SUI) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The real estate investment trust reported $2.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.51 by ($0.20). The firm had revenue of $939.90 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $980.41 million. Sun Communities had a return on equity of 3.21% and a net margin of 7.46%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.57 EPS. Analysts expect that Sun Communities will post 6.75 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Sun Communities Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 30th were issued a $0.94 dividend. This represents a $3.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.00%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 30th. Sun Communities’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 202.15%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Assetmark Inc. grew its stake in Sun Communities by 2,111.1% in the third quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 199 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 190 shares during the period. Brooklyn Investment Group purchased a new stake in Sun Communities in the third quarter worth about $41,000. Quest Partners LLC increased its position in Sun Communities by 12,700.0% during the 2nd quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 384 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $46,000 after buying an additional 381 shares in the last quarter. Point72 Hong Kong Ltd purchased a new position in Sun Communities during the third quarter valued at $60,000. Finally, 1620 Investment Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in Sun Communities in the second quarter worth $62,000. 99.59% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.