Virtus Investment Advisers Inc. Takes $301,000 Position in Urban Edge Properties (NYSE:UE)

Virtus Investment Advisers Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Urban Edge Properties (NYSE:UE - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 14,000 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock, valued at approximately $301,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in UE. Resolution Capital Ltd boosted its holdings in Urban Edge Properties by 2.5% during 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 buying an additional 71,290 shares in the last quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Urban Edge Properties during the fourth quarter worth about $816,000. Quantinno Capital Management LP boosted its holdings in Urban Edge Properties by 11.0% during the fourth quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 24,884 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $535,000 after buying an additional 2,469 shares in the last quarter. Nissay Asset Management Corp Japan ADV lifted its holdings in shares of Urban Edge Properties by 14.3% in the fourth quarter. Nissay Asset Management Corp Japan ADV now owns 17,792 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $380,000 after purchasing an additional 2,232 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nuveen Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Urban Edge Properties by 17.7% in the fourth quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC now owns 1,685,151 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $36,231,000 after purchasing an additional 253,278 shares in the last quarter. 94.94% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Urban Edge Properties

In related news, General Counsel Robert C. Milton sold 26,000 shares of the company'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 document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 2.40% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Urban Edge Properties from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Monday, May 5th.

Urban Edge Properties Price Performance

Shares of NYSE UE traded down $0.03 on Thursday, hitting $17.67. The company's stock had a trading volume of 669,160 shares, compared to its average volume of 916,274. Urban Edge Properties has a 12-month low of $15.66 and a 12-month high of $23.85. The company has a market capitalization of $2.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.95 and a beta of 1.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 1.92 and a quick ratio of 1.92. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $18.27 and a 200-day moving average of $20.25.

Urban Edge Properties (NYSE:UE - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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. The business had revenue of $118.17 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $119.05 million. Urban Edge Properties had a net margin of 16.31% and a return on equity of 5.59%. As a group, research analysts predict that Urban Edge Properties will post 1.4 EPS for the current year.

Urban Edge Properties Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 30th. Investors of record on Friday, June 13th will be paid a dividend of $0.19 per share. This represents a $0.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.30%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 13th. Urban Edge Properties's payout ratio is 118.75%.

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.