Blue Trust Inc. Acquires 539 Shares of Sun Communities, Inc. (NYSE:SUI)

Blue Trust Inc. raised its holdings in Sun Communities, Inc. (NYSE:SUI) by 86.2% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 1,164 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after buying an additional 539 shares during the quarter. Blue Trust Inc.’s holdings in Sun Communities were worth $157,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Assetmark Inc. lifted its stake in Sun Communities by 2,111.1% in the third quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 199 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 190 shares during the period. Brooklyn Investment Group bought a new position in Sun Communities in the 3rd quarter worth $41,000. Point72 Hong Kong Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Sun Communities in the 3rd quarter worth about $60,000. Farther Finance Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Sun Communities by 89.1% during the 3rd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 501 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $68,000 after purchasing an additional 236 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. increased its position in shares of Sun Communities by 15.5% during the second quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 762 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $92,000 after buying an additional 102 shares during the period. 99.59% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Sun Communities Stock Performance

Shares of Sun Communities stock opened at $126.30 on Thursday. Sun Communities, Inc. has a 1 year low of $110.98 and a 1 year high of $147.83. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $124.48 and its 200 day moving average is $129.63. The stock has a market cap of $16.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 67.90 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93, a current ratio of 1.61 and a quick ratio of 1.61.

Sun Communities (NYSE:SUI) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The real estate investment trust reported $2.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.51 by ($0.20). The firm had revenue of $939.90 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $980.41 million. Sun Communities had a return on equity of 3.21% and a net margin of 7.46%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 4.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.57 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Sun Communities, Inc. will post 6.77 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Sun Communities Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, December 31st were paid a dividend of $0.94 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, December 31st. This represents a $3.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.98%. Sun Communities’s dividend payout ratio is 202.15%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SUI has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Robert W. Baird lowered shares of Sun Communities from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $145.00 to $126.00 in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Bank of America cut Sun Communities from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $147.00 to $114.00 in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. StockNews.com cut Sun Communities from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on Sun Communities from $149.00 to $150.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research report on Monday, October 21st. Finally, Truist Financial upgraded shares of Sun Communities from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Sun Communities presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $134.55.

Sun Communities Company Profile

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.