Critical Review: Equinix (NASDAQ:EQIX) & Urban Edge Properties (NYSE:UE)

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

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent ratings and recommmendations for Urban Edge Properties and Equinix, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Urban Edge Properties	0	3	2	0	2.40
Equinix	0	5	18	4	2.96

Urban Edge Properties currently has a consensus price target of $22.25, suggesting a potential upside of 10.88%. Equinix has a consensus price target of $960.65, suggesting a potential upside of 23.36%. Given Equinix’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts plainly believe Equinix is more favorable than Urban Edge Properties.

Dividends

Urban Edge Properties pays an annual dividend of $0.76 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.8%. Equinix pays an annual dividend of $18.76 per share and has a dividend yield of 2.4%. 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 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 has increased its dividend for 2 consecutive years and Equinix has increased its dividend for 10 consecutive years. Urban Edge Properties is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

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

Earnings & Valuation

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

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Urban Edge Properties	$444.97 million	5.67	$72.56 million	$0.84	23.89
Equinix	$8.94 billion	8.52	$815.00 million	$10.21	76.27

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.

Risk & Volatility

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

Profitability

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

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

Summary

Equinix beats Urban Edge Properties on 11 of the 18 factors compared between the two stocks.

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.

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.