Acadia Realty Trust (NYSE:AKR – Get Free Report) and Urban Edge Properties (NYSE:UE – Get Free Report) are both mid-cap real estate companies, but which is the better investment? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their earnings, institutional ownership, profitability, analyst recommendations, risk, valuation and dividends.
Analyst Ratings
This is a summary of current ratings and recommmendations for Acadia Realty Trust and Urban Edge Properties, as reported by MarketBeat.
| Sell Ratings | Hold Ratings | Buy Ratings | Strong Buy Ratings | Rating Score | |
| Acadia Realty Trust | 0 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 2.75 |
| Urban Edge Properties | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 2.50 |
Acadia Realty Trust presently has a consensus target price of $23.80, suggesting a potential upside of 20.75%. Urban Edge Properties has a consensus target price of $22.67, suggesting a potential upside of 8.90%. Given Acadia Realty Trust’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, research analysts plainly believe Acadia Realty Trust is more favorable than Urban Edge Properties.
Profitability
This table compares Acadia Realty Trust and Urban Edge Properties’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.
| Net Margins | Return on Equity | Return on Assets | |
| Acadia Realty Trust | 10.23% | 1.54% | 0.87% |
| Urban Edge Properties | 21.12% | 7.53% | 3.09% |
Dividends
Acadia Realty Trust pays an annual dividend of $0.80 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.1%. Urban Edge Properties pays an annual dividend of $0.84 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.0%. Acadia Realty Trust pays out 285.7% 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 101.2% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Acadia Realty Trust has increased its dividend for 2 consecutive years and Urban Edge Properties has increased its dividend for 2 consecutive years.
Insider & Institutional Ownership
97.7% of Acadia Realty Trust shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 94.9% of Urban Edge Properties shares are held by institutional investors. 3.1% of Acadia Realty Trust shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 2.7% of Urban Edge Properties shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.
Risk and Volatility
Acadia Realty Trust has a beta of 1.11, indicating that its stock price is 11% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Urban Edge Properties has a beta of 1.04, indicating that its stock price is 4% more volatile than the S&P 500.
Earnings and Valuation
This table compares Acadia Realty Trust and Urban Edge Properties”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.
| Gross Revenue | Price/Sales Ratio | Net Income | Earnings Per Share | Price/Earnings Ratio | |
| Acadia Realty Trust | $398.16 million | 6.84 | $16.90 million | $0.28 | 70.39 |
| Urban Edge Properties | $471.93 million | 5.57 | $93.54 million | $0.83 | 25.08 |
Urban Edge Properties has higher revenue and earnings than Acadia Realty Trust. Urban Edge Properties is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Acadia Realty Trust, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.
Summary
Acadia Realty Trust beats Urban Edge Properties on 10 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.
About Acadia Realty Trust
Acadia Realty Trust is an equity real estate investment trust focused on delivering long-term, profitable growth via its dual Core Portfolio and Fund operating platforms and its disciplined, location-driven investment strategy. Acadia Realty Trust is accomplishing this goal by building a best-in-class core real estate portfolio with meaningful concentrations of assets in the nation's most dynamic corridors; making profitable opportunistic and value-add investments through its series of discretionary, institutional funds; and maintaining a strong balance sheet.
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.
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