Phillips Edison & Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:PECO) Sees Large Decrease in Short Interest

Phillips Edison & Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:PECO) was the recipient of a large decline in short interest during the month of January. As of January 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,900,000 shares, a decline of 35.2% from the December 31st total of 2,930,000 shares. Approximately 1.6% of the company’s stock are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 676,300 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.8 days.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PECO has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Mizuho lifted their target price on shares of Phillips Edison & Company, Inc. from $39.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Phillips Edison & Company, Inc. from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $44.00 target price for the company in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of Phillips Edison & Company, Inc. from $41.00 to $40.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $39.50.

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

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in PECO. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in Phillips Edison & Company, Inc. by 16.8% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,250,731 shares of the company’s stock worth $40,911,000 after acquiring an additional 179,775 shares in the last quarter. Xponance Inc. increased its holdings in Phillips Edison & Company, Inc. by 6.3% in the 2nd quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 7,789 shares of the company’s stock worth $255,000 after acquiring an additional 465 shares in the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP purchased a new stake in Phillips Edison & Company, Inc. in the 2nd quarter worth $2,527,000. Millennium Management LLC purchased a new stake in Phillips Edison & Company, Inc. in the 2nd quarter worth $8,397,000. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its holdings in Phillips Edison & Company, Inc. by 5.7% in the 2nd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 71,493 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,339,000 after acquiring an additional 3,830 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.70% of the company’s stock.

Phillips Edison & Company, Inc. Price Performance

NASDAQ:PECO opened at $36.93 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $4.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 80.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.13 and a beta of 0.59. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $37.83 and a 200-day moving average price of $37.11. Phillips Edison & Company, Inc. has a 1-year low of $30.62 and a 1-year high of $40.12.

Phillips Edison & Company, Inc. Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 3rd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, December 17th were issued a dividend of $0.1025 per share. This represents a dividend yield of 3.13%. This is a positive change from Phillips Edison & Company, Inc.’s previous dividend of $0.10. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 16th. Phillips Edison & Company, Inc.’s payout ratio is 267.39%.

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.