Sun Communities (NYSE:SUI) Lowered to “Sell” Rating by StockNews.com

StockNews.com downgraded shares of Sun Communities (NYSE:SUI) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research note released on Wednesday.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently commented on SUI. Bank of America cut Sun Communities from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $147.00 to $114.00 in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Baird R W downgraded shares of Sun Communities from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price objective on shares of Sun Communities from $145.00 to $138.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Robert W. Baird cut shares of Sun Communities from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $145.00 to $126.00 in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Sun Communities from $123.00 to $154.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Sun Communities currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $139.08.

Sun Communities Stock Down 0.8 %

Shares of Sun Communities stock opened at $127.45 on Wednesday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $132.51 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $127.42. The stock has a market capitalization of $16.24 billion, a PE ratio of 68.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.53 and a beta of 0.91. Sun Communities has a 52-week low of $110.98 and a 52-week high of $147.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93, a quick ratio of 1.61 and a current ratio of 1.61.

Sun Communities (NYSE:SUI) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 6th. The real estate investment trust reported $2.31 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.51 by ($0.20). Sun Communities had a return on equity of 3.21% and a net margin of 7.46%. The firm had revenue of $939.90 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $980.41 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.57 earnings per share. Sun Communities’s revenue was down 4.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts anticipate that Sun Communities will post 6.78 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Sun Communities Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Investors of record on Monday, September 30th were issued a $0.94 dividend. This represents a $3.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.95%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 30th. Sun Communities’s dividend payout ratio is 202.15%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Sun Communities

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of SUI. Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Sun Communities by 6.9% during the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 77,203 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $10,434,000 after buying an additional 5,008 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV lifted its position in shares of Sun Communities by 303.3% in the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 109,939 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $14,858,000 after acquiring an additional 82,682 shares in the last quarter. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Sun Communities in the second quarter worth about $13,164,000. Virtu Financial LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Sun Communities during the first quarter worth about $1,106,000. Finally, AMG National Trust Bank bought a new stake in Sun Communities during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $1,690,000. 99.59% of the stock is currently owned by 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.