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

Phillips Edison & Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:PECO) was the recipient of a significant decrease in short interest during 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. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 642,100 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 4.9 days. Currently, 2.6% of the shares of the stock are sold short.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of PECO. Arizona State Retirement System raised its stake in shares of Phillips Edison & Company, Inc. by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 35,534 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,331,000 after buying an additional 290 shares during the last quarter. M&T Bank Corp raised its position in shares of Phillips Edison & Company, Inc. by 2.9% during the 3rd quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 10,883 shares of the company’s stock valued at $410,000 after acquiring an additional 307 shares during the last quarter. FIL Ltd lifted its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 325 shares during the period. State of Alaska Department of Revenue boosted its position in shares of Phillips Edison & Company, Inc. by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 128,465 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,811,000 after purchasing an additional 344 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Exchange Traded Concepts LLC grew its stake in shares of Phillips Edison & Company, Inc. by 2.6% during the fourth quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 20,185 shares of the company’s stock worth $756,000 after purchasing an additional 510 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 80.70% of the company’s stock.

Phillips Edison & Company, Inc. Trading Down 0.0 %

Shares of Phillips Edison & Company, Inc. stock traded down $0.01 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $35.14. The company had a trading volume of 441,574 shares, compared to its average volume of 606,082. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $36.16 and a 200 day simple moving average of $37.35. Phillips Edison & Company, Inc. has a 1-year low of $30.62 and a 1-year high of $40.12. The company has a market capitalization of $4.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 70.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.57.

Phillips Edison & Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:PECO) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The company reported $0.62 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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%. Sell-side analysts expect that Phillips Edison & Company, Inc. will post 2.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Phillips Edison & Company, Inc. Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a monthly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.1025 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 15th. This represents a $1.23 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.50%. Phillips Edison & Company, Inc.’s dividend payout ratio is currently 246.00%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on PECO. Mizuho cut their target price on shares of Phillips Edison & Company, Inc. from $41.00 to $38.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut 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 reduced their price objective on Phillips Edison & Company, Inc. from $39.00 to $37.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note 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, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $39.00.

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.