Phillips Edison & Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:PECO) Short Interest Update

Phillips Edison & Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:PECO) was the target of a significant decrease in short interest in the month of February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 3,170,000 shares, a decrease of 16.4% from the February 13th total of 3,790,000 shares. Approximately 2.6% of the company’s shares are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 642,100 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 4.9 days.

Phillips Edison & Company, Inc. Price Performance

PECO stock remained flat at $35.13 during trading on Tuesday. 124,625 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 604,607. The stock has a market cap of $4.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 70.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.57. Phillips Edison & Company, Inc. has a twelve month low of $30.62 and a twelve month high of $40.12. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $36.19 and a 200 day moving average price of $37.37.

Phillips Edison & Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:PECO) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The company reported $0.62 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.12 by $0.50. Phillips Edison & Company, Inc. had a return on equity of 2.40% and a net margin of 9.48%. Equities research analysts anticipate that Phillips Edison & Company, Inc. will post 2.55 EPS for the current year.

Phillips Edison & Company, Inc. Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a monthly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 17th will be given a dividend of $0.1025 per share. This represents a $1.23 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.50%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 17th. Phillips Edison & Company, Inc.’s dividend payout ratio is presently 246.00%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Phillips Edison & Company, Inc.

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in PECO. Norges Bank bought a new position in Phillips Edison & Company, Inc. during the fourth quarter valued at about $55,977,000. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its stake in Phillips Edison & Company, Inc. by 408.0% in the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 765,822 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,879,000 after acquiring an additional 615,076 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its position in shares of Phillips Edison & Company, Inc. by 53.6% during the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,737,423 shares of the company’s stock valued at $65,084,000 after acquiring an additional 606,055 shares during the period. Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co. increased its stake in shares of Phillips Edison & Company, Inc. by 50.1% during the 3rd quarter. Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co. now owns 1,474,130 shares of the company’s stock worth $55,589,000 after purchasing an additional 492,160 shares during the last quarter. Finally, ExodusPoint Capital Management LP increased its stake in shares of Phillips Edison & Company, Inc. by 341.1% during the 4th quarter. ExodusPoint Capital Management LP now owns 499,336 shares of the company’s stock worth $18,705,000 after purchasing an additional 386,145 shares during the last quarter. 80.70% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PECO has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Mizuho cut their price objective on Phillips Edison & Company, Inc. from $41.00 to $38.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on Phillips Edison & Company, Inc. from $41.00 to $40.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on Phillips Edison & Company, Inc. from $39.00 to $37.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Phillips Edison & Company, Inc. has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $39.00.

Phillips Edison & Company, Inc. Company Profile

Phillips Edison & Co, Inc is a real estate investment trust, which engages in the ownership and operation of shopping centers. It also offers an investment management business providing property management and advisory services. Its portfolio consists of well-occupied, grocery-anchored neighborhood and community shopping centers having a mix of national, regional, and local retailers offering necessity-based goods and services.