Phillips Edison & Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:PECO) Short Interest Up 24.6% in March

Phillips Edison & Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:PECO) was the recipient of a large growth in short interest in the month of March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 3,950,000 shares, a growth of 24.6% from the February 28th total of 3,170,000 shares. Currently, 3.2% of the company’s shares are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 630,500 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 6.3 days.

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

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in PECO. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB grew its holdings in shares of Phillips Edison & Company, Inc. by 79.4% in the 1st quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 1,360 shares of the company’s stock valued at $50,000 after acquiring an additional 602 shares in the last quarter. 111 Capital bought a new stake in Phillips Edison & Company, Inc. in the 4th quarter valued at $241,000. Ameriflex Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of Phillips Edison & Company, Inc. in the fourth quarter valued at about $719,000. GF Fund Management CO. LTD. acquired a new position in Phillips Edison & Company, Inc. in the 4th quarter valued at about $83,000. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its holdings in Phillips Edison & Company, Inc. by 2.6% in the 4th quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 785,928 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,441,000 after acquiring an additional 20,106 shares during the period. 80.70% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Phillips Edison & Company, Inc. Price Performance

NASDAQ PECO opened at $37.33 on Thursday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $36.15 and its 200-day moving average is $37.23. Phillips Edison & Company, Inc. has a one year low of $30.62 and a one year high of $40.12. The firm has a market cap of $4.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 74.66, a P/E/G ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.57.

Phillips Edison & Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:PECO) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The company reported $0.62 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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%. Equities analysts anticipate that Phillips Edison & Company, Inc. will post 2.55 EPS for the current year.

Phillips Edison & Company, Inc. Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a monthly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.1025 per share. This represents a $1.23 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.29%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 15th. Phillips Edison & Company, Inc.’s payout ratio is 246.00%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PECO has been the subject of several recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on shares of Phillips Edison & Company, Inc. from $37.00 to $36.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, March 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective 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. Finally, Mizuho reduced their target price on Phillips Edison & Company, Inc. from $41.00 to $38.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Phillips Edison & Company, Inc. has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $38.83.

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.