Contrasting Equinix (NASDAQ:EQIX) and Urban Edge Properties (NYSE:UE)

Equinix (NASDAQ:EQIX) and Urban Edge Properties (NYSE:UE) are both finance companies, but which is the better business? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their earnings, dividends, valuation, institutional ownership, profitability, risk and analyst recommendations.

Profitability

This table compares Equinix and Urban Edge Properties’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Equinix	11.11%	7.22%	2.73%
Urban Edge Properties	22.86%	7.74%	3.21%

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent recommendations and price targets for Equinix and Urban Edge Properties, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Equinix	0	4	19	5	3.04
Urban Edge Properties	0	3	1	0	2.25

Equinix presently has a consensus target price of $962.52, suggesting a potential upside of 24.37%. Urban Edge Properties has a consensus target price of $22.25, suggesting a potential upside of 9.22%. Given Equinix’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, research analysts plainly believe Equinix is more favorable than Urban Edge Properties.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

94.9% of Equinix shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 94.9% of Urban Edge Properties shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.3% of Equinix shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 2.4% of Urban Edge Properties shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Volatility and Risk

Equinix has a beta of 0.92, meaning that its stock price is 8% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Urban Edge Properties has a beta of 1.26, meaning that its stock price is 26% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Equinix and Urban Edge Properties”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Equinix	$8.75 billion	8.66	$815.00 million	$10.21	75.80
Urban Edge Properties	$444.97 million	5.76	$72.56 million	$0.84	24.25

Equinix has higher revenue and earnings than Urban Edge Properties. Urban Edge Properties is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Equinix, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Dividends

Equinix pays an annual dividend of $18.76 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.4%. Urban Edge Properties pays an annual dividend of $0.76 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.7%. Equinix pays out 183.7% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Urban Edge Properties pays out 90.5% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Equinix has increased its dividend for 10 consecutive years and Urban Edge Properties has increased its dividend for 2 consecutive years. Urban Edge Properties is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Summary

Equinix beats Urban Edge Properties on 10 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Equinix

Equinix (Nasdaq: EQIX) is the world's digital infrastructure company . Digital leaders harness Equinix's trusted platform to bring together and interconnect foundational infrastructure at software speed. Equinix enables organizations to access all the right places, partners and possibilities to scale with agility, speed the launch of digital services, deliver world-class experiences and multiply their value, while supporting their sustainability goals.

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, D.C. to Boston corridor. Urban Edge owns 76 properties totaling 17.1 million square feet of gross leasable area.