Safehold (NYSE:SAFE) Reaches New 52-Week Low on Analyst Downgrade

Safehold Inc. (NYSE:SAFE)’s share price reached a new 52-week low on Thursday after JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded the stock from a neutral rating to an underweight rating. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now has a $14.00 price target on the stock. Safehold traded as low as $12.69 and last traded at $12.58, with a volume of 53738 shares. The stock had previously closed at $12.91.

Several other equities analysts have also issued reports on SAFE. Mizuho decreased their price target on shares of Safehold from $16.00 to $14.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, September 17th. Wall Street Zen raised Safehold from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, July 4th. Raymond James Financial began coverage on Safehold in a research note on Wednesday, August 19th. They issued a “market perform” rating for the company. Weiss Ratings upgraded Safehold from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a report on Friday, July 31st. Finally, Zacks Research raised Safehold from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 21st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $16.43.

Insider Buying and Selling at Safehold

In other news, Director Robin Josephs sold 9,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $14.56, for a total value of $138,320.00. Following the sale, the director owned 89,068 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,296,830.08. The trade was a 9.64% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 3.80% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Safehold

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in SAFE. BlackRock Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Safehold by 2.1% during the 2nd quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 9,938,575 shares of the company’s stock worth $156,036,000 after buying an additional 200,628 shares during the last quarter. NewEdge Wealth LLC bought a new stake in Safehold during the second quarter worth about $10,529,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its position in Safehold by 4.0% during the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 411,971 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,468,000 after purchasing an additional 16,016 shares during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE acquired a new position in Safehold during the second quarter valued at approximately $5,153,000. Finally, Denali Advisors LLC bought a new position in Safehold in the second quarter valued at approximately $4,861,000. 70.38% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Safehold Stock Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $893.96 million, a P/E ratio of 7.77, a P/E/G ratio of 4.01 and a beta of 1.73. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $15.32 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $15.19. The company has a quick ratio of 34.36, a current ratio of 34.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.77.

Safehold (NYSE:SAFE) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 30th. The company reported $0.42 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.42. The company had revenue of $114.65 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $110.78 million. Safehold had a return on equity of 4.76% and a net margin of 27.70%. On average, equities analysts forecast that Safehold Inc. will post 1.64 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Safehold Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 15th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, September 30th will be paid a $0.177 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, September 30th. This represents a $0.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.6%. Safehold’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 43.83%.

About Safehold

Safehold Inc (NYSE: SAFE) is a real estate investment trust focused on owning and managing ground leases. Through its ground lease structure, Safehold acquires the land beneath commercial real estate properties and leases it to property owners under long-term agreements, allowing those owners to retain ownership of and operate the buildings on the sites.

The company’s ground lease investments support a range of property types, including multifamily housing, office buildings, hotels, life sciences facilities, student housing, industrial properties and retail assets.