Urban Edge Properties (NYSE:UE) Share Price Passes Below Fifty Day Moving Average of $17.16

Urban Edge Properties (NYSE:UE) passed below its fifty day moving average during trading on Wednesday . The stock has a fifty day moving average of $17.16 and traded as low as $16.55. Urban Edge Properties shares last traded at $17.06, with a volume of 991,439 shares changing hands.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently commented on UE shares. Morgan Stanley upgraded Urban Edge Properties from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and raised their target price for the company from $14.00 to $18.00 in a research note on Thursday, December 21st. StockNews.com raised Urban Edge Properties from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, December 9th.

Urban Edge Properties Price Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $2.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.04 and a beta of 1.49. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $17.16 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $16.83. The company has a quick ratio of 2.42, a current ratio of 2.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29.

Urban Edge Properties (NYSE:UE) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 14th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.88 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.31 by $1.57. The business had revenue of $106.25 million during the quarter. Urban Edge Properties had a return on equity of 23.62% and a net margin of 59.60%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Urban Edge Properties will post 1.27 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Urban Edge Properties Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 29th. Investors of record on Friday, March 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.17 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, March 14th. This represents a $0.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.99%. This is an increase from Urban Edge Properties’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.16. Urban Edge Properties’s dividend payout ratio is 32.08%.

Insider Activity at Urban Edge Properties

In other Urban Edge Properties news, General Counsel Robert C. Milton III sold 26,333 shares of Urban Edge Properties stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $17.02, for a total transaction of $448,187.66. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 3.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Urban Edge Properties

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Citigroup Inc. increased its position in Urban Edge Properties by 13.9% in the first quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 186,801 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $3,567,000 after buying an additional 22,725 shares during the last quarter. Natixis Advisors L.P. raised its stake in Urban Edge Properties by 94.1% in the 1st quarter. Natixis Advisors L.P. now owns 24,825 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $474,000 after acquiring an additional 12,032 shares during the period. Bank of Montreal Can lifted its holdings in Urban Edge Properties by 143.9% during the first quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 34,601 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $677,000 after purchasing an additional 20,413 shares during the last quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS lifted its holdings in Urban Edge Properties by 160.0% during the first quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS now owns 94,925 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,813,000 after purchasing an additional 58,419 shares during the last quarter. Finally, BlackRock Inc. boosted its position in Urban Edge Properties by 29.0% during the first quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 20,450,479 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $390,605,000 after purchasing an additional 4,602,331 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.