The past year has been difficult for real estate investment trusts (REITs), and one of the worst-performing subsectors has been retail REITs. Only nine of 27 REITs in this group have been profitable over the past year.

The headwinds in 2023 have been numerous, including inflation, interest rate hikes, fears of recession, fears of Amazon.com Inc. (AMZN  ) and other online retailers drawing sales away from mall and stand-alone retailers. But anyone who visited a local mall in 2023 could see that consumers were still in a spending mood, and many of Wall Street's fears were perhaps unfounded.

Take a look at three retail REITs that led the group and have performed admirably over the past 52 weeks.

Tanger Factory Outlet Centers Inc. (SKT  ) is a Greensboro, North Carolina-based retail REIT that owns 37 indoor shopping centers and outdoor factory outlet malls with 14 million square feet and over 2,700 stores across 20 states and in Canada. Tanger Factory Outlet Centers was founded in 1981 and had its initial public offering (IPO) in May 1993.

Tanger has produced some positive news recently. On Oct. 13, Tanger announced an increase in its quarterly dividend from $0.245 to $0.26 per share, payable Nov. 15 to stockholders of record on Oct. 31. This represents a 6.1% increase in its annualized dividend from $0.98 to $1.04 per share. The yield is now 4.22%.

On Nov. 6, Tanger reported its third-quarter operating results. Funds from operations (FFO) of $0.50 per share beat the estimates of $0.47 per share and was above FFO of $0.47 per share in the third quarter of 2022. Revenue of $117.35 million beat the estimates of $110.02 million and topped revenue of $111.45 million in the third quarter of 2022.

With the solid quarter in hand, Tanger also boosted its 2023 full-year guidance of FFO per share from $1.85-$1.92 to $1.90-$1.94.

Tanger also announced that as of Nov. 16, it will officially change its name to Tanger Inc.

On Oct. 12, JP Morgan analyst, Michael Mueller upgraded Tanger Outlet Centers from Underweight to Neutral and raised the price target from $24 to $25. But on Nov. 7, Scotia Capital initiated coverage of Tanger with an Underperform rating, and the next day, Compass Point Research & Trading analyst Floris Van Dijkum downgraded Tanger from Buy to Neutral and announced a $26 price target. Tanger had a recent closing price of $24.62.

Over the past 52 weeks, Tanger has led all retail REITs with a total return of 36.26%.

Whitestone REIT (WSR  ) is a Houston-based REIT that owns, operates and develops open-air retail centers in fast-growing Sun Belt markets. Whitestone owns 50 properties in Texas and Arizona. Its tenants are mostly service-oriented businesses, such as restaurants, health and fitness centers, financial services and grocery stores.

On Oct. 31, Whitestone REIT reported its third-quarter operating results. FFO of $0.23 per share was in line with estimates but below FFO of $0.24 per share in the third quarter of 2022. Revenue of $37.1 million beat the estimate of $36.8 million and was above revenue of $35 million in the third quarter of 2022.

On Oct. 26, Bloomberg reported that Fortress Investment Group had approached Whitestone REIT about a takeover but that Whitestone wasn't interested.

As for analysts, on Sept. 26, JMP Securities analyst Mitch Germain reiterated a Market Outperform rating and $13 price target on Whitestone. It recently closed at $10.39.

Over the past 52 weeks, Whitestone has had a total return of 18.54%, the second-highest return among retail REITs.

Urban Edge Properties (UE  ) is a New York-based REIT that manages, acquires and develops retail properties in urban communities, the majority of which are in the Washington, D.C., to Boston corridor. It owns 77 properties totaling 17.4 million square feet of gross leasable space. Some of its largest tenants include investment grade TJX Companies Inc. (TJX  ), Burlington Stores Inc. (BURL  ), Target Corp. (TGT  ), Lowe's Companies Inc. (LOW  ) and Best Buy Co. Inc (BBY  ).

On Oct. 31, Urban Edge Properties reported its third-quarter operating results. FFO of $0.32 per share beat the estimate of $0.27 per share and was above FFO of $0.30 per share in the third quarter of 2022. Revenue of $101.83 million handily beat the estimate of $86.12 million and was also above revenue of $98.29 million in the third quarter of 2022.

In addition, Urban Edge lifted its full-year 2023 FFO from $1.16-$1.19 to $1.22-$1.25.

Despite its excellent numbers, Urban Edge is strangely ignored by analysts. The last major analyst update was in July when Morgan Stanley reiterated an Underweight rating and a $14 price target. Urban Edge had a recent closing price of $16.29.

Urban Edge pays a quarterly dividend of $0.16 per share. The $0.64 annual dividend presently yields 3.92%.

Over the past 52 weeks, Urban Edge has had a total return of 17.49%, making it the third-best-performing retail REIT.