Magnetar Financial LLC Acquires New Stake in Brixmor Property Group Inc. (NYSE:BRX)

Magnetar Financial LLC acquired a new stake in Brixmor Property Group Inc. (NYSE:BRX) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 11,383 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock, valued at approximately $317,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Brixmor Property Group by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,615,014 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $156,473,000 after purchasing an additional 44,485 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in Brixmor Property Group by 3.3% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,959,993 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $138,185,000 after purchasing an additional 159,388 shares during the last quarter. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI increased its stake in shares of Brixmor Property Group by 44.7% in the 3rd quarter. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI now owns 3,104,772 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $86,499,000 after acquiring an additional 959,000 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its stake in shares of Brixmor Property Group by 3.5% in the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 2,365,410 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $65,900,000 after acquiring an additional 79,778 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Captrust Financial Advisors acquired a new stake in shares of Brixmor Property Group in the 3rd quarter worth $46,695,000. 98.43% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

BRX has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Mizuho cut their target price on Brixmor Property Group from $31.00 to $29.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Stifel Nicolaus cut their target price on Brixmor Property Group from $31.75 to $31.25 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Evercore ISI raised Brixmor Property Group from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $31.00 target price for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on Brixmor Property Group from $29.00 to $27.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upgraded Brixmor Property Group from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $30.00 to $33.00 in a report on Friday, December 6th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $30.56.

Brixmor Property Group Stock Performance

Shares of Brixmor Property Group stock opened at $25.61 on Friday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $26.64 and a 200 day moving average of $27.59. Brixmor Property Group Inc. has a 12 month low of $20.80 and a 12 month high of $30.67. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 1.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.79, a current ratio of 1.16 and a quick ratio of 1.16.

Brixmor Property Group (NYSE:BRX) last announced its earnings results on Monday, February 10th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.53 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.22 by $0.31. Brixmor Property Group had a return on equity of 11.72% and a net margin of 26.40%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Brixmor Property Group Inc. will post 2.22 earnings per share for the current year.

Brixmor Property Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 2nd will be issued a dividend of $0.2875 per share. This represents a $1.15 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.49%. This is a boost from Brixmor Property Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.29. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 2nd. Brixmor Property Group’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 103.60%.

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.