Urban Edge Properties (NYSE:UE) Sees Large Drop in Short Interest

Urban Edge Properties (NYSE:UE) was the target of a significant decrease in short interest in February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 3,050,000 shares, a decrease of 16.7% from the February 13th total of 3,660,000 shares. Currently, 2.5% of the company’s stock are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 847,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 3.6 days.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in UE. Entropy Technologies LP acquired a new stake in Urban Edge Properties during the 3rd quarter worth $206,000. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. raised its position in Urban Edge Properties by 3.2% during the 3rd quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 132,676 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $2,838,000 after buying an additional 4,080 shares during the last quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Urban Edge Properties in the 3rd quarter worth $267,000. Quest Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Urban Edge Properties in the third quarter valued at about $101,000. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC increased its stake in shares of Urban Edge Properties by 7.8% during the third quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 2,966,029 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $63,443,000 after acquiring an additional 215,879 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.94% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. StockNews.com lowered shares of Urban Edge Properties from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. Evercore ISI reduced their price objective on 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 Stock Up 0.6 %

Shares of UE stock traded up $0.11 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $18.76. 354,498 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 817,276. Urban Edge Properties has a 12-month low of $15.81 and a 12-month high of $23.85. The business’s fifty day moving average is $20.17 and its two-hundred day moving average is $21.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 1.92 and a quick ratio of 1.92. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.81 and a beta of 1.54.

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

Urban Edge Properties Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a $0.19 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This is a boost from Urban Edge Properties’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.17. This represents a $0.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.05%. Urban Edge Properties’s dividend payout ratio is 128.81%.

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.