Why Urban Edge Properties (UE) is a Top Dividend Stock for Your Portfolio

Getting big returns from financial portfolios, whether through stocks, bonds, ETFs, other securities, or a combination of all, is an investor's dream. However, when you're an income investor, your primary focus is generating consistent cash flow from each of your liquid investments.

While cash flow can come from bond interest or interest from other types of investments, income investors hone in on dividends. A dividend is the distribution of a company's earnings paid out to shareholders; it's often viewed by its dividend yield, a metric that measures a dividend as a percent of the current stock price. Many academic studies show that dividends make up large portions of long-term returns, and in many cases, dividend contributions surpass one-third of total returns.

Urban Edge Properties (UE) is headquartered in New York, and is in the Finance sector. The stock has seen a price change of 3.65% since the start of the year. The real estate investment trust that owns and manages shopping centers is paying out a dividend of $0.21 per share at the moment, with a dividend yield of 4.22% compared to the REIT and Equity Trust - Retail industry's yield of 4.24% and the S&P 500's yield of 1.47%.

Looking at dividend growth, the company's current annualized dividend of $0.84 is up 10.5% from last year. Over the last 5 years, Urban Edge Properties has increased its dividend 4 times on a year-over-year basis for an average annual increase of 11.53%. Looking ahead, future dividend growth will be dependent on earnings growth and payout ratio, which is the proportion of a company's annual earnings per share that it pays out as a dividend. Urban Edge Properties's current payout ratio is 53%, meaning it paid out 53% of its trailing 12-month EPS as dividend.

Looking at this fiscal year, UE expects solid earnings growth. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2026 is $1.49 per share, representing a year-over-year earnings growth rate of 4.20%.

From greatly improving stock investing profits and reducing overall portfolio risk to providing tax advantages, investors like dividends for a variety of different reasons. It's important to keep in mind that not all companies provide a quarterly payout.

Big, established firms that have more secure profits are often seen as the best dividend options, but it's fairly uncommon to see high-growth businesses or tech start-ups offer their stockholders a dividend. Income investors must be conscious of the fact that high-yielding stocks tend to struggle during periods of rising interest rates. With that in mind, UE is a compelling investment opportunity. Not only is it a strong dividend play, but the stock currently sits at a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold).

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This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).

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