UMH Properties Inc Stock Upgraded (UMH)

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- UMH Properties (NYSE:UMH) has been upgraded by TheStreet Ratings from hold to buy. The company's strengths can be seen in multiple areas, such as its revenue growth, largely solid financial position with reasonable debt levels by most measures and solid stock price performance. We feel these strengths outweigh the fact that the company has had somewhat weak growth in earnings per share.

Highlights from the ratings report include:

• UMH's revenue growth trails the industry average of 17.2%. Since the same quarter one year prior, revenues slightly increased by 5.7%. This growth in revenue does not appear to have trickled down to the company's bottom line, displayed by a decline in earnings per share.
• Even though the current debt-to-equity ratio is 1.08, it is still below the industry average, suggesting that this level of debt is acceptable within the Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs) industry.
• Looking at where the stock is today compared to one year ago, we find that it is not only higher, but it has also clearly outperformed the rise in the S&P 500 over the same period, despite the company's weak earnings results. The stock's price rise over the last year has driven it to a level which is somewhat expensive compared to the rest of its industry. We feel, however, that other strengths this company displays justify these higher price levels.
• UMH PROPERTIES INC has exprienced a steep decline in earnings per share in the most recent quarter in comparison to its performance from the same quarter a year ago. The company has reported a trend of declining earnings per share over the past two years. During the past fiscal year, UMH PROPERTIES INC reported lower earnings of $0.14 versus $0.52 in the prior year.
• The company, on the basis of change in net income from the same quarter one year ago, has significantly underperformed when compared to that of the S&P 500 and the Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs) industry. The net income has significantly decreased by 74.4% when compared to the same quarter one year ago, falling from $2.11 million to $0.54 million.

.

UMH Properties, Inc. (UMH) is a real estate investment trust. The firm engages in the ownership and operation of manufactured home communities. It leases manufactured home spaces to private manufactured home owners, as well as leases homes to residents. The company has a P/E ratio of 45.8, below the average real estate industry P/E ratio of 81.7 and above the S&P 500 P/E ratio of 17.7. UMH has a market cap of $178.6 million and is part of the financial sector and real estate industry. Shares are up 20.7% year to date as of the close of trading on Monday.

You can view the full UMH Ratings Report or get investment ideas from our investment research center.
-- Written by a member of TheStreet RatingsStaff

For more information on UMH Properties Inc click any of the following:

• UMH Properties Inc Stock Price

• UMH Properties Inc Analyst Ratings

• UMH Properties Inc Key Stats & Profile

• UMH Properties Inc Earnings

• UMH Properties Inc Ratio Comparison

• UMH Properties Inc Growth Rates

• UMH Properties Inc Balance Sheet

• UMH Properties Inc Cash Flow

• UMH Properties Inc Income Statement