Virtus Investment Advisers Inc. Buys New Holdings in Urban Edge Properties (NYSE:UE)

Virtus Investment Advisers Inc. purchased a new position in Urban Edge Properties (NYSE:UE) during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund purchased 14,000 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock, valued at approximately $301,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Urban Edge Properties by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 19,962,196 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $429,187,000 after buying an additional 213,478 shares during the period. FMR LLC increased its position 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 valued at $317,070,000 after acquiring an additional 835,885 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Urban Edge Properties by 2.6% during 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 acquiring an additional 82,324 shares during the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Urban Edge Properties by 6.9% during the fourth quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 3,169,598 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $68,146,000 after purchasing an additional 203,569 shares during the period. Finally, Resolution Capital Ltd grew its stake in shares of Urban Edge Properties by 2.5% in the fourth quarter. Resolution Capital Ltd now owns 2,897,436 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $62,295,000 after purchasing an additional 71,290 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 94.94% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Urban Edge Properties

In other Urban Edge Properties news, General Counsel Robert C. Milton sold 26,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $18.78, for a total transaction of $488,280.00. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 2.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Urban Edge Properties Stock Up 1.3%

Shares of Urban Edge Properties stock opened at $18.99 on Monday. 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 has a 12-month low of $15.66 and a 12-month high of $23.85. The company has a market cap of $2.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.19 and a beta of 1.16. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $18.29 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $20.30.

Urban Edge Properties (NYSE:UE) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.34 by $0.01. Urban Edge Properties had a net margin of 16.31% and a return on equity of 5.59%. The company had revenue of $118.17 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $119.05 million. Research analysts anticipate that Urban Edge Properties will post 1.4 EPS for the current year.

Urban Edge Properties Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 13th will be paid a $0.19 dividend. This represents a $0.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.00%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 13th. Urban Edge Properties’s payout ratio is presently 118.75%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, StockNews.com lowered Urban Edge Properties from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Monday, May 5th.

Urban Edge Properties Profile

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.