Ensign Peak Advisors Inc Buys 6,971 Shares of UDR, Inc. (NYSE:UDR)

Ensign Peak Advisors Inc raised its stake in shares of UDR, Inc. (NYSE:UDR) by 7.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 106,704 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after purchasing an additional 6,971 shares during the quarter. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc’s holdings in UDR were worth $4,632,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Townsquare Capital LLC increased its holdings in shares of UDR by 4.8% during the 4th quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC now owns 5,173 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $225,000 after purchasing an additional 237 shares during the period. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC increased its stake in UDR by 8.8% in the fourth quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 3,330 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $145,000 after acquiring an additional 269 shares during the period. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC increased its stake in UDR by 68.7% in the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,206 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $52,000 after acquiring an additional 491 shares during the period. IRON Financial LLC increased its stake in UDR by 3.0% in the fourth quarter. IRON Financial LLC now owns 17,674 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $767,000 after acquiring an additional 511 shares during the period. Finally, 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. Institutional investors own 97.84% of the company’s stock.

UDR Price Performance

Shares of UDR stock opened at $41.12 on Thursday. UDR, Inc. has a 1 year low of $36.61 and a 1 year high of $47.55. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $42.28 and its 200-day moving average is $42.96. The firm has a market capitalization of $13.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 164.48, a PEG ratio of 8.67 and a beta of 0.84. 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 earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.61 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.61. UDR had a net margin of 5.36% and a return on equity of 2.65%. The company had revenue of $419.84 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $421.23 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.61 earnings per share. UDR’s quarterly revenue was up 2.0% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that UDR, Inc. will post 2.51 EPS for the current fiscal year.

UDR Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Investors of record on Thursday, April 10th were issued a $0.43 dividend. This is a positive change from UDR’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.18%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 10th. UDR’s dividend payout ratio is currently 491.43%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently weighed in on UDR shares. Truist Financial cut shares of UDR from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and upped their target price for the company from $45.00 to $46.00 in a research note on Monday, March 10th. Barclays upped their target price on shares of UDR from $48.00 to $51.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, May 9th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of UDR from $48.00 to $45.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on shares of UDR from $43.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of UDR from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $46.69.

Insider Activity at UDR

In related news, CEO Thomas W. Toomey sold 25,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.75, for a total value of $1,068,750.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 824,716 shares in the company, valued at $35,256,609. This represents a 2.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 3.39% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.