Virtu Financial LLC Purchases New Position in Sun Communities, Inc. (NYSE:SUI)

Virtu Financial LLC acquired a new stake in Sun Communities, Inc. (NYSE:SUI) in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund acquired 3,903 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock, valued at approximately $502,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of SUI. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its position in shares of Sun Communities by 19.7% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 5,549,540 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $682,429,000 after purchasing an additional 911,857 shares in the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG boosted its stake in Sun Communities by 103.7% in the 1st quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 1,611,425 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $207,294,000 after purchasing an additional 820,422 shares during the period. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. bought a new position in Sun Communities in the 4th quarter worth about $71,122,000. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. grew its holdings in Sun Communities by 112.5% during the 4th quarter. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. now owns 1,004,688 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $123,546,000 after buying an additional 531,880 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH bought a new stake in shares of Sun Communities during the first quarter valued at about $67,256,000. 99.59% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

SUI has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Colliers Securities assumed coverage on shares of Sun Communities in a research report on Friday, June 13th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $130.00 price objective for the company. Robert W. Baird increased their target price on shares of Sun Communities from $126.00 to $134.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday. Morgan Stanley initiated coverage on shares of Sun Communities in a research report on Tuesday, July 15th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $135.00 price target for the company. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Sun Communities from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, August 9th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada dropped their price objective on Sun Communities from $147.00 to $143.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 1st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $138.43.

Sun Communities Stock Up 1.6%

Shares of Sun Communities stock opened at $128.01 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 7.08, a quick ratio of 7.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55. Sun Communities, Inc. has a 12-month low of $109.22 and a 12-month high of $147.83. The company has a market cap of $16.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.53, a PEG ratio of 6.50 and a beta of 0.83. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $125.35 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $125.77.

Sun Communities (NYSE:SUI) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.76 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.67 by $0.09. Sun Communities had a net margin of 48.86% and a negative return on equity of 0.60%. The firm had revenue of $623.50 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $614.79 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.86 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Sun Communities, Inc. will post 6.77 EPS for the current year.

Sun Communities Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 31st. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 30th were given a $1.04 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 30th. This represents a $4.16 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.2%. This is an increase from Sun Communities’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.94. Sun Communities’s dividend payout ratio is currently 40.70%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Jeff Blau purchased 3,665 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 23rd. The shares were bought at an average cost of $117.99 per share, for a total transaction of $432,433.35. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 3,665 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $432,433.35. This trade represents a ∞ increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 1.77% of the company’s stock.

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.