Financial Survey: Urban Edge Properties (NYSE:UE) vs. Scentre Group (OTCMKTS:STGPF)

Scentre Group (OTCMKTS:STGPF) and Urban Edge Properties (NYSE:UE) are both real estate companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their valuation, earnings, dividends, profitability, risk, institutional ownership and analyst recommendations.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of current ratings and price targets for Scentre Group and Urban Edge Properties, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Scentre Group	0	0	0	0	0.00
Urban Edge Properties	0	4	2	0	2.33

Urban Edge Properties has a consensus target price of $23.20, indicating a potential upside of 7.43%. Given Urban Edge Properties’ stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts clearly believe Urban Edge Properties is more favorable than Scentre Group.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Scentre Group and Urban Edge Properties”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Scentre Group	N/A	N/A	N/A	$0.26	12.07
Urban Edge Properties	$471.93 million	5.77	$93.54 million	$0.86	25.11

Urban Edge Properties has higher revenue and earnings than Scentre Group. Scentre 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.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

67.9% of Scentre Group shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 94.9% of Urban Edge Properties shares are owned by institutional investors. 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 stock is poised for long-term growth.

Dividends

Scentre Group pays an annual dividend of $0.19 per share and has a dividend yield of 6.3%. Urban Edge Properties pays an annual dividend of $0.84 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.9%. Scentre Group pays out 75.6% 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 97.7% 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. Scentre Group is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and lower payout ratio.

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Scentre Group	N/A	N/A	N/A
Urban Edge Properties	22.20%	7.80%	3.24%

Summary

Urban Edge Properties beats Scentre Group on 12 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Scentre Group

Scentre Group owns and operates a leading portfolio of 42 Westfield destinations with 37 located in Australia and five in New Zealand encompassing more than 12,000 outlets. Our Westfield destinations are strategically located in the heart of the local communities we serve. Our centres are considered community hubs that connect people with services and experiences that enrich their daily lives. The Trust has a joint interest in 39 Westfield destinations.

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.