Financial Comparison: Brixmor Property Group (NYSE:BRX) versus Urban Edge Properties (NYSE:UE)

Brixmor Property Group (NYSE:BRX) and Urban Edge Properties (NYSE:UE) 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 analyst recommendations, institutional ownership, profitability, risk, dividends, valuation and earnings.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent ratings and recommmendations for Brixmor Property Group and Urban Edge Properties, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Brixmor Property Group	0	3	9	2	2.93
Urban Edge Properties	0	2	2	0	2.50

Brixmor Property Group currently has a consensus target price of $33.14, indicating a potential upside of 13.75%. Urban Edge Properties has a consensus target price of $22.67, indicating a potential upside of 13.85%. Given Urban Edge Properties’ higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Urban Edge Properties is more favorable than Brixmor Property Group.

Dividends

Brixmor Property Group pays an annual dividend of $1.23 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.2%. Urban Edge Properties pays an annual dividend of $0.84 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.2%. Brixmor Property Group pays out 89.8% 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. Brixmor Property Group has increased its dividend for 5 consecutive years and Urban Edge Properties has increased its dividend for 2 consecutive years. Brixmor Property Group is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

98.4% of Brixmor Property Group shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 94.9% of Urban Edge Properties shares are owned by institutional investors. 0.9% of Brixmor Property Group shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 2.7% of Urban Edge Properties shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, hedge funds and large money managers believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Brixmor Property Group	29.96%	14.10%	4.70%
Urban Edge Properties	21.12%	7.53%	3.09%

Volatility and Risk

Brixmor Property Group has a beta of 0.97, indicating that its stock price is 3% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Urban Edge Properties has a beta of 0.99, indicating that its stock price is 1% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Earnings and Valuation

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

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Brixmor Property Group	$1.37 billion	6.52	$386.23 million	$1.37	21.26
Urban Edge Properties	$471.93 million	5.33	$93.54 million	$0.83	23.99

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

Summary

Brixmor Property Group beats Urban Edge Properties on 14 of the 18 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Brixmor Property Group

Brixmor Property Group, Inc. operates as a real estate investment trust, which engages in owning and operating a portfolio of grocery anchored community and neighborhood shopping centers. The company was founded in 1985 and is headquartered in New York, NY.

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.