Empowered Funds LLC Acquires 546 Shares of UDR, Inc. (NYSE:UDR)

Empowered Funds LLC boosted its holdings in UDR, Inc. (NYSE:UDR) by 10.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 5,792 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after acquiring an additional 546 shares during the quarter. Empowered Funds LLC’s holdings in UDR were worth $251,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Activest Wealth Management bought a new stake in UDR in the third quarter valued at about $27,000. Brooklyn Investment Group bought a new stake in UDR in the third quarter valued at about $33,000. Continuum Advisory LLC increased its stake in UDR by 5,335.3% in the third quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC now owns 924 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $41,000 after acquiring an additional 907 shares during the period. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. increased its stake in UDR by 62.7% in the fourth quarter. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. now owns 1,349 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $59,000 after acquiring an additional 520 shares during the period. Finally, Eastern Bank bought a new stake in UDR during the fourth quarter worth about $68,000. Institutional investors own 97.84% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at UDR

In other news, CEO Thomas W. Toomey sold 25,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.75, for a total transaction of $1,068,750.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 824,716 shares in the company, valued at approximately $35,256,609. This trade represents a 2.94 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 3.73% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

UDR Stock Down 0.4 %

UDR stock opened at $42.84 on Friday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $42.31 and a 200 day simple moving average of $43.55. UDR, Inc. has a 1-year low of $34.76 and a 1-year high of $47.55. The company has a market cap of $14.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 171.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 8.59 and a beta of 0.88. The company has a current ratio of 5.61, a quick ratio of 5.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.71.

UDR (NYSE:UDR) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.63 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.10 by $0.53. UDR had a net margin of 5.36% and a return on equity of 2.65%. Research analysts anticipate that UDR, Inc. will post 2.51 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

UDR Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 31st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, January 9th were given a $0.425 dividend. This represents a $1.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.97%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 10th. UDR’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 680.00%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have weighed in on UDR shares. Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of UDR from $50.00 to $48.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 24th. StockNews.com raised shares of UDR from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on shares of UDR from $43.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Mizuho decreased their price objective on shares of UDR from $47.00 to $45.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group cut shares of UDR from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $50.00 to $45.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, UDR presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $46.18.

About UDR

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.