Short Interest in Urban Edge Properties (NYSE:UE) Expands By 60.7%

Urban Edge Properties (NYSE:UE) was the recipient of a significant increase in short interest during 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. Currently, 4.0% of the company’s shares are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 872,400 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 5.6 days.

Urban Edge Properties Stock Up 0.1 %

Shares of Urban Edge Properties stock traded up $0.01 during trading on Friday, hitting $18.88. 529,300 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 877,245. The company has a current ratio of 1.92, a quick ratio of 1.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $19.95 and its 200 day simple moving average is $21.18. The firm has a market cap of $2.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.00 and a beta of 1.54. Urban Edge Properties has a 52-week low of $15.81 and a 52-week high of $23.85.

Urban Edge Properties (NYSE:UE) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.34 EPS for the quarter, beating 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%. On average, equities analysts predict that Urban Edge Properties will post 1.4 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Urban Edge Properties Increases Dividend

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Urban Edge Properties by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 19,962,196 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $429,187,000 after purchasing an additional 213,478 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its stake in shares of Urban Edge Properties by 6.0% in the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 14,747,456 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $317,070,000 after buying an additional 835,885 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its position in Urban Edge Properties by 2.6% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 6,990,363 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $149,524,000 after buying an additional 177,745 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Urban Edge Properties by 2.6% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,191,932 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $68,640,000 after buying an additional 82,324 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC increased its holdings in Urban Edge Properties by 6.9% in the 4th quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 3,169,598 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $68,146,000 after acquiring an additional 203,569 shares in the last quarter. 94.94% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on UE shares. Evercore ISI lowered their price objective on shares of Urban Edge Properties from $23.00 to $22.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, December 24th. StockNews.com upgraded Urban Edge Properties from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, March 20th.

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.