James Investment Research Inc. Acquires New Shares in Urban Edge Properties (NYSE:UE)

James Investment Research Inc. bought a new position in shares of Urban Edge Properties (NYSE:UE - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 13,811 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock, valued at approximately $262,000.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Arizona State Retirement System raised its stake in Urban Edge Properties by 1.7% during the first quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 35,818 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $681,000 after acquiring an additional 605 shares in the last quarter. Contravisory Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in Urban Edge Properties by 6.6% during the first quarter. Contravisory Investment Management Inc. now owns 12,175 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $231,000 after acquiring an additional 758 shares in the last quarter. Summit Investment Advisors Inc. raised its stake in Urban Edge Properties by 6.3% during the fourth quarter. Summit Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 13,176 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $283,000 after acquiring an additional 778 shares in the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can raised its stake in Urban Edge Properties by 6.4% during the fourth quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 17,911 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $385,000 after acquiring an additional 1,078 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Maryland State Retirement & Pension System raised its stake in Urban Edge Properties by 2.6% during the fourth quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System now owns 42,052 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $904,000 after acquiring an additional 1,079 shares in the last quarter. 94.94% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other 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 stock was sold at an average price of $18.78, for a total value of $488,280.00. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 2.40% of the company's stock.

Urban Edge Properties Price Performance

Shares of NYSE UE traded up $0.02 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $19.27. 948,400 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 904,867. The company has a market capitalization of $2.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.11 and a beta of 1.18. The company has a quick ratio of 2.29, a current ratio of 2.29 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.16. Urban Edge Properties has a 52-week low of $15.66 and a 52-week high of $23.85. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $18.60 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $19.07.

Urban Edge Properties (NYSE:UE - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.35 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.34 by $0.01. Urban Edge Properties had a return on equity of 5.88% and a net margin of 17.23%. The company had revenue of $118.17 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $119.05 million. Equities research analysts forecast that Urban Edge Properties will post 1.4 EPS for the current year.

Urban Edge Properties Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 30th. Investors of record on Friday, June 13th were paid a dividend of $0.19 per share. This represents a $0.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.94%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 13th. Urban Edge Properties's payout ratio is presently 118.75%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, Wall Street Zen cut Urban Edge Properties from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Friday.

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.