Urban Edge Properties (NYSE:UE) Cut to “Sell” at StockNews.com

StockNews.com cut shares of Urban Edge Properties (NYSE:UE) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a report released on Wednesday.

Separately, Evercore ISI lowered their price target on shares of Urban Edge Properties from $23.00 to $22.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, December 24th.

Urban Edge Properties Trading Up 0.7 %

Shares of NYSE:UE opened at $18.47 on Wednesday. Urban Edge Properties has a 12 month low of $15.81 and a 12 month high of $23.85. The company has a quick ratio of 1.92, a current ratio of 1.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $20.27 and its 200 day simple moving average is $21.33. The firm has a market cap of $2.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.31 and a beta of 1.54.

Urban Edge Properties (NYSE:UE) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.09 by $0.25. Urban Edge Properties had a net margin of 16.31% and a return on equity of 5.59%. As a group, research analysts forecast that Urban Edge Properties will post 1.4 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Urban Edge Properties Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a $0.19 dividend. This represents a $0.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.11%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This is an increase from Urban Edge Properties’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.17. Urban Edge Properties’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 128.81%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Urban Edge Properties by 21.3% in the 4th quarter. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. now owns 68,798 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,479,000 after acquiring an additional 12,098 shares during the period. Yoffe Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Urban Edge Properties in the 4th quarter valued at about $224,000. Mackenzie Financial Corp grew its position in shares of Urban Edge Properties by 115.6% in the 4th quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 41,980 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $903,000 after acquiring an additional 22,512 shares during the period. GF Fund Management CO. LTD. bought a new position in shares of Urban Edge Properties in the 4th quarter valued at about $47,000. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its position in shares of Urban Edge Properties by 3.9% in the 4th quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 813,608 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $17,493,000 after acquiring an additional 30,687 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 94.94% of the company’s stock.

About Urban Edge Properties

Urban Edge Properties is a NYSE listed real estate investment trust focused on owning, managing, acquiring, developing, and redeveloping retail real estate in urban communities, primarily in the Washington, DC to Boston corridor. Urban Edge owns 76 properties totaling 17.1 million square feet of gross leasable area.