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

Phillips Edison & Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:PECO) was the target of a large growth in short interest in February. As of February 15th, there was short interest totalling 3,790,000 shares, a growth of 35.8% from the January 31st total of 2,790,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 639,200 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 5.9 days. Approximately 3.1% of the company’s stock are short sold.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on PECO. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on Phillips Edison & Company, Inc. from $41.00 to $40.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of Phillips Edison & Company, Inc. from $39.00 to $37.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Mizuho cut their price target on shares of 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. Finally, Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Phillips Edison & Company, Inc. from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $44.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Phillips Edison & Company, Inc. currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $39.00.

Institutional Trading of Phillips Edison & Company, Inc.

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in PECO. Arizona State Retirement System increased its holdings in shares of Phillips Edison & Company, Inc. by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 35,534 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,331,000 after purchasing an additional 290 shares during the period. M&T Bank Corp grew its position in Phillips Edison & Company, Inc. by 2.9% in the 3rd quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 10,883 shares of the company’s stock valued at $410,000 after buying an additional 307 shares during the last quarter. FIL Ltd increased its stake in Phillips Edison & Company, Inc. by 17.8% in the 4th quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 2,155 shares of the company’s stock valued at $81,000 after buying an additional 325 shares during the period. State of Alaska Department of Revenue raised its position in Phillips Edison & Company, Inc. by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 128,465 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,811,000 after buying an additional 344 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Private Advisor Group LLC raised its position in Phillips Edison & Company, Inc. by 6.5% during the 3rd quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 8,009 shares of the company’s stock worth $302,000 after buying an additional 487 shares during the last quarter. 80.70% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Phillips Edison & Company, Inc. Trading Up 0.1 %

Shares of PECO opened at $37.23 on Tuesday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $36.60 and its 200-day simple moving average is $37.40. The firm has a market cap of $4.66 billion, a PE ratio of 74.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.58. Phillips Edison & Company, Inc. has a 12-month low of $30.62 and a 12-month high of $40.12.

Phillips Edison & Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:PECO) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The company reported $0.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.12 by $0.50. Phillips Edison & Company, Inc. had a net margin of 9.48% and a return on equity of 2.40%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Phillips Edison & Company, Inc. will post 2.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Phillips Edison & Company, Inc. Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a monthly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Investors of record on Monday, March 17th will be given a $0.1025 dividend. This represents a $1.23 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.30%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 17th. Phillips Edison & Company, Inc.’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 246.00%.

About Phillips Edison & Company, Inc.

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.