Blue Trust Inc. Decreases Stock Position in Urban Edge Properties (NYSE:UE)

Blue Trust Inc. reduced its stake in shares of Urban Edge Properties (NYSE:UE) by 66.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 2,704 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 5,243 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc.’s holdings in Urban Edge Properties were worth $58,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. IFM Investors Pty Ltd increased its holdings in shares of Urban Edge Properties by 2.1% in the 3rd quarter. IFM Investors Pty Ltd now owns 28,231 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $604,000 after acquiring an additional 584 shares during the period. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. raised its stake in Urban Edge Properties by 36.0% during the 3rd quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 4,612 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $97,000 after purchasing an additional 1,221 shares during the period. M&T Bank Corp lifted its position in Urban Edge Properties by 11.1% in the 3rd quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 12,886 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $276,000 after buying an additional 1,292 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV raised its stake in shares of Urban Edge Properties by 42.1% during the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 5,141 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $111,000 after purchasing an additional 1,524 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Louisiana State Employees Retirement System grew its position in Urban Edge Properties by 2.9% in the fourth quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 60,400 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,299,000 after acquiring an additional 1,700 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 94.94% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on UE shares. StockNews.com lowered Urban Edge Properties from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Friday, February 14th. Evercore ISI dropped 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 note on Tuesday, December 24th.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Jeffrey S. Olson sold 240,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $22.45, for a total transaction of $5,388,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,931 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $43,350.95. This represents a 99.20 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 4.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Urban Edge Properties Price Performance

Shares of Urban Edge Properties stock opened at $20.31 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.43 and a beta of 1.54. Urban Edge Properties has a 1-year low of $15.81 and a 1-year high of $23.85. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $20.69 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $21.36. The company has a current ratio of 1.92, a quick ratio of 1.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15.

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 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 declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 31st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a $0.19 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $0.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.74%. This is an increase from Urban Edge Properties’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.17. 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.