Royal London Asset Management Ltd. Increases Stake in UDR, Inc. (NYSE:UDR)

Royal London Asset Management Ltd. grew its position in UDR, Inc. (NYSE:UDR) by 7.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 173,426 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after acquiring an additional 12,648 shares during the period. Royal London Asset Management Ltd.’s holdings in UDR were worth $7,528,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in UDR. Brooklyn Investment Group acquired a new stake in UDR in the third quarter valued at about $33,000. Continuum Advisory LLC lifted its holdings in shares of UDR by 5,335.3% in the 3rd quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC now owns 924 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $41,000 after buying an additional 907 shares during the period. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of 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 buying an additional 491 shares in the last quarter. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. grew its holdings in UDR by 62.7% during the fourth quarter. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. now owns 1,349 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $59,000 after acquiring an additional 520 shares during the period. Finally, Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in UDR in the fourth quarter worth $63,000. 97.84% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

UDR Stock Performance

Shares of UDR opened at $43.36 on Monday. UDR, Inc. has a 1 year low of $35.14 and a 1 year high of $47.55. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $42.75 and its 200 day simple moving average is $43.77. The company has a market capitalization of $14.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 173.44, a PEG ratio of 8.67 and a beta of 0.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.71, a quick ratio of 5.91 and a current ratio of 5.61.

UDR (NYSE:UDR) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.63 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.10 by $0.53. UDR had a return on equity of 2.65% and a net margin of 5.36%. On average, sell-side analysts predict that UDR, Inc. will post 2.51 EPS for the current year.

UDR Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 30th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.43 per share. This is a positive change from UDR’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. This represents a $1.72 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.97%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 10th. UDR’s dividend payout ratio is presently 688.00%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have commented on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on shares of UDR from $43.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Truist Financial lowered shares of UDR from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $45.00 to $46.00 in a research report on Monday, March 10th. Scotiabank lifted their price target on shares of UDR from $48.00 to $49.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on UDR from $48.00 to $45.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Barclays reduced their price objective on UDR from $50.00 to $48.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 24th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $46.12.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other UDR news, CEO Thomas W. Toomey sold 25,000 shares of UDR stock in a transaction 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 owns 824,716 shares in the company, valued at $35,256,609. This trade represents a 2.94 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Corporate insiders own 3.73% of the company’s stock.

UDR Company Profile

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.