Safehold (NYSE:SAFE) Reaches New 12-Month Low on Analyst Downgrade

Safehold Inc. (NYSE:SAFE) shares hit 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.

Other equities analysts have also issued reports about the company. Cantor Fitzgerald restated a “neutral” rating on shares of Safehold in a report on Tuesday, August 4th. Zacks Research raised Safehold from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 21st. Wall Street Zen raised Safehold from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, July 4th. Mizuho dropped their target price on shares of Safehold from $16.00 to $14.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, September 17th. Finally, Raymond James Financial began coverage on shares of Safehold in a report on Wednesday, August 19th. They set a “market perform” rating on the stock. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Safehold currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $16.43.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Robin Josephs sold 9,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $14.56, for a total transaction of $138,320.00. Following the sale, the director owned 89,068 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,296,830.08. This represents a 9.64% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 3.80% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Safehold

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. BlackRock Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Safehold by 2.1% in the 2nd quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 9,938,575 shares of the company’s stock valued at $156,036,000 after purchasing an additional 200,628 shares during the last quarter. NewEdge Wealth LLC bought a new position in Safehold in the second quarter valued at approximately $10,529,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its holdings in Safehold by 4.0% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 411,971 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,468,000 after acquiring an additional 16,016 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc grew its holdings in Safehold by 7.6% during the 4th quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 340,108 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,656,000 after acquiring an additional 23,879 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE raised its position in shares of Safehold by 110.4% during the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 337,284 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,563,000 after acquiring an additional 177,001 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 70.38% of the company’s stock.

Safehold Stock Down 2.2%

The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $15.32 and its 200 day simple moving average is $15.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.77, a quick ratio of 34.36 and a current ratio of 34.37. The company has a market cap of $893.96 million, a P/E ratio of 7.77, a PEG ratio of 4.01 and a beta of 1.73.

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

Safehold Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 15th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, September 30th will be issued a dividend of $0.177 per share. 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 43.83%.

Safehold Company Profile

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.