UMH Properties, Inc. (NYSE:UMH) Short Interest Up 51.4% in August

UMH Properties, Inc. (NYSE:UMH) was the recipient of a large growth in short interest during the month of August. As of August 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,120,000 shares, a growth of 51.4% from the July 31st total of 739,700 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 465,200 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.4 days.

UMH Properties Stock Performance

UMH opened at $19.46 on Friday. UMH Properties has a 1-year low of $13.26 and a 1-year high of $19.79. The company has a market cap of $1.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -129.72, a PEG ratio of 3.52 and a beta of 1.29. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $17.81 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $16.31. The company has a current ratio of 6.77, a quick ratio of 6.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.49.

UMH Properties (NYSE:UMH) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.01 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.22 by ($0.21). The business had revenue of $60.33 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $59.84 million. UMH Properties had a return on equity of 3.17% and a net margin of 5.79%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.21 EPS. On average, analysts expect that UMH Properties will post 0.93 EPS for the current fiscal year.

UMH Properties Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 16th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.215 per share. This represents a $0.86 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.42%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 15th. UMH Properties’s dividend payout ratio is -573.30%.

Insider Buying and Selling at UMH Properties

In related news, Director Michael P. Landy bought 4,700 shares of UMH Properties stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 18th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $15.45 per share, for a total transaction of $72,615.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 341,796 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,280,748.20. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, Director Michael P. Landy bought 4,700 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 18th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $15.45 per share, with a total value of $72,615.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 341,796 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,280,748.20. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Kiernan Conway sold 2,700 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.54, for a total transaction of $52,758.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 412 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,050.48. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 8.63% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of UMH Properties

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in UMH Properties by 10.6% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,541,226 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $100,212,000 after acquiring an additional 629,427 shares during the period. Kennedy Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of UMH Properties by 245.9% in the 1st quarter. Kennedy Capital Management LLC now owns 664,377 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $10,789,000 after buying an additional 472,307 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates grew its position in UMH Properties by 24.1% during the first quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 825,371 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $13,404,000 after buying an additional 160,503 shares during the period. Marshall Wace LLP purchased a new stake in UMH Properties during the second quarter worth about $2,300,000. Finally, Panagora Asset Management Inc. bought a new stake in UMH Properties in the fourth quarter worth about $1,819,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.40% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

UMH has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Wedbush lifted their target price on UMH Properties from $17.00 to $20.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, August 8th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of UMH Properties from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 13th. B. Riley raised their price target on shares of UMH Properties from $18.50 to $22.50 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 15th. Alliance Global Partners started coverage on shares of UMH Properties in a report on Thursday, July 18th. They set a “buy” rating and a $21.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, William Blair reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of UMH Properties in a research report on Monday, May 13th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $21.25.

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.