Safehold (NYSE:SAFE) Lowered to Equal Weight Rating by Morgan Stanley

Morgan Stanley downgraded shares of Safehold (NYSE:SAFE) from an overweight rating to an equal weight rating in a research note published on Wednesday, MarketBeat reports. The brokerage currently has $19.00 target price on the stock, down from their prior target price of $30.00.

A number of other research analysts have also issued reports on the stock. Raymond James upgraded shares of Safehold from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $34.00 target price on the stock in a report on Thursday, September 19th. JMP Securities restated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $35.00 target price on shares of Safehold in a report on Tuesday, October 29th. Wedbush reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $23.00 price objective (down from $25.00) on shares of Safehold in a report on Monday, November 4th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price objective on shares of Safehold from $29.00 to $24.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on shares of Safehold from $30.00 to $31.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Safehold has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $26.00.

Safehold Price Performance

Shares of NYSE SAFE opened at $16.86 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $1.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.92 and a beta of 1.67. Safehold has a 52 week low of $15.55 and a 52 week high of $28.80. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $19.66 and its 200 day moving average price is $22.20. The company has a current ratio of 37.83, a quick ratio of 37.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.85.

Safehold (NYSE:SAFE) last released its earnings results on Monday, October 28th. The company reported $0.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.37. The company had revenue of $90.70 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $89.45 million. Safehold had a net margin of 32.08% and a return on equity of 4.79%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 6.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.33 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Safehold will post 1.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Safehold Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Investors of record on Monday, December 30th were issued a $0.177 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 30th. This represents a $0.71 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.20%. Safehold’s payout ratio is 41.18%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Long Pond Capital LP grew its position in Safehold by 14.9% in the second quarter. Long Pond Capital LP now owns 2,662,579 shares of the company’s stock valued at $51,361,000 after acquiring an additional 345,661 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its position in shares of Safehold by 2.0% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,618,033 shares of the company’s stock worth $69,131,000 after buying an additional 51,035 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Safehold by 3.1% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,247,740 shares of the company’s stock worth $32,734,000 after buying an additional 38,074 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Safehold by 6.1% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 687,718 shares of the company’s stock worth $18,039,000 after buying an additional 39,320 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sei Investments Co. grew its position in shares of Safehold by 3.2% during the second quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 670,065 shares of the company’s stock worth $12,926,000 after buying an additional 20,483 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 70.38% of the company’s stock.

Safehold Company Profile

Safehold Inc (NYSE: SAFE) is revolutionizing real estate ownership by providing a new and better way for owners to unlock the value of the land beneath their buildings. Having created the modern ground lease industry in 2017, Safehold continues to help owners of high quality multifamily, office, industrial, hospitality, student housing, life science and mixed-use properties generate higher returns with less risk.