Principal Financial Group Inc. Invests $675,000 in UMH Properties, Inc. (NYSE:UMH)

Principal Financial Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of UMH Properties, Inc. (NYSE:UMH) during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund purchased 34,314 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock, valued at approximately $675,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in UMH. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of UMH Properties during the third quarter worth $614,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its position in UMH Properties by 9.7% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 388,861 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $6,218,000 after acquiring an additional 34,249 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in UMH Properties by 11.0% in the 2nd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 421,850 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $6,745,000 after purchasing an additional 41,774 shares in the last quarter. Kennedy Capital Management LLC raised its position in UMH Properties by 245.9% in the first quarter. Kennedy Capital Management LLC now owns 664,377 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $10,789,000 after purchasing an additional 472,307 shares during the last quarter. Finally, EntryPoint Capital LLC boosted its stake in shares of UMH Properties by 843.9% during the first quarter. EntryPoint Capital LLC now owns 2,020 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 1,806 shares in the last quarter. 75.40% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Samuel A. Landy sold 50,000 shares of UMH Properties stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.55, for a total value of $977,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,104,826 shares in the company, valued at $21,599,348.30. The trade was a 4.33 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Angela D. Pruitt sold 2,800 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $19.26, for a total transaction of $53,928.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 7,993 shares in the company, valued at approximately $153,945.18. This represents a 25.94 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 8.63% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Wedbush upped their price objective on UMH Properties from $17.00 to $20.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. B. Riley upped their price target on shares of UMH Properties from $18.50 to $22.50 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 15th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of UMH Properties from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, November 16th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $21.25.

UMH Properties Stock Performance

NYSE:UMH opened at $19.24 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 8.48 and a current ratio of 8.48. UMH Properties, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $13.91 and a fifty-two week high of $20.64. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $19.16 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $17.87. The company has a market capitalization of $1.52 billion, a PE ratio of 148.01, a P/E/G ratio of 3.46 and a beta of 1.30.

UMH Properties (NYSE:UMH) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 6th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.11 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.24 by ($0.13). The firm had revenue of $60.67 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $61.57 million. UMH Properties had a return on equity of 6.06% and a net margin of 11.81%. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.22 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that UMH Properties, Inc. will post 0.93 earnings per share for the current year.

UMH Properties Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 15th will be given a $0.215 dividend. This represents a $0.86 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.47%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 15th. UMH Properties’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 661.59%.

UMH Properties Company Profile

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.