Urban Edge Properties (NYSE:UE) Short Interest Update

Urban Edge Properties (NYSE:UE) was the target of a large increase in short interest in the month of March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 4,900,000 shares, an increase of 60.7% from the February 28th total of 3,050,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 872,400 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 5.6 days. Approximately 4.0% of the shares of the company are sold short.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on UE. Evercore ISI lowered their price objective 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. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Urban Edge Properties from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 20th.

Urban Edge Properties Price Performance

NYSE:UE traded up $0.01 on Friday, reaching $18.88. 529,300 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 877,245. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $19.95 and a 200-day simple moving average of $21.19. The company has a quick ratio of 1.92, a current ratio of 1.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15. Urban Edge Properties has a 12 month low of $15.81 and a 12 month high of $23.85. The firm has a market cap of $2.37 billion, a PE ratio of 32.00 and a beta of 1.54.

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

Urban Edge Properties Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.19 per share. This represents a $0.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.03%. This is a positive change from Urban Edge Properties’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.17. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. Urban Edge Properties’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 128.81%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of UE. Quest Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Urban Edge Properties in the third quarter valued at about $101,000. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. acquired a new stake in Urban Edge Properties during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $565,000. Intech Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Urban Edge Properties in the 3rd quarter valued at $627,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Urban Edge Properties by 4.7% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,271,201 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $48,581,000 after acquiring an additional 101,111 shares during the period. Finally, Citigroup Inc. lifted its position in Urban Edge Properties by 47.6% during the third quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 187,934 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $4,020,000 after purchasing an additional 60,634 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.