LPL Financial LLC Acquires 33,580 Shares of Brixmor Property Group Inc. (NYSE:BRX)

LPL Financial LLC boosted its position in Brixmor Property Group Inc. (NYSE:BRX - Free Report) by 83.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 73,673 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock after purchasing an additional 33,580 shares during the period. LPL Financial LLC's holdings in Brixmor Property Group were worth $2,051,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of BRX. Fox Run Management L.L.C. acquired a new stake in shares of Brixmor Property Group in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $703,000. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS bought a new stake in shares of Brixmor Property Group during the 4th quarter valued at $1,785,000. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Brixmor Property Group by 55.1% in the fourth quarter. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,900 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $81,000 after purchasing an additional 1,030 shares during the period. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS increased its position in shares of Brixmor Property Group by 38.3% in the fourth quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS now owns 164,340 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $4,575,000 after purchasing an additional 45,503 shares during the period. Finally, Magnetar Financial LLC acquired a new position in Brixmor Property Group in the fourth quarter valued at about $317,000. Institutional investors own 98.43% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently commented on BRX shares. Evercore ISI upgraded shares of 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 report on Tuesday, February 11th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of Brixmor Property Group from $27.00 to $26.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, March 26th. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their target price on Brixmor Property Group from $31.75 to $31.25 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Mizuho lowered their price target on Brixmor Property Group from $31.00 to $29.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised Brixmor Property Group from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their price objective for the company from $28.00 to $33.00 in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $30.48.

Brixmor Property Group Trading Up 1.7 %

Shares of BRX stock traded up $0.43 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $25.51. 2,004,399 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,210,065. The company has a quick ratio of 1.16, a current ratio of 1.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.79. Brixmor Property Group Inc. has a 12 month low of $21.32 and a 12 month high of $30.67. The stock has a market cap of $7.80 billion, a PE ratio of 22.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 1.30. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $26.12 and its 200 day simple moving average is $27.20.

Brixmor Property Group (NYSE:BRX - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Monday, February 10th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.53 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.22 by $0.31. Brixmor Property Group had a return on equity of 11.72% and a net margin of 26.40%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Brixmor Property Group Inc. will post 2.22 EPS for the current year.

Brixmor Property Group Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 2nd were given a dividend of $0.2875 per share. This represents a $1.15 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.51%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, April 2nd. This is an increase from Brixmor Property Group's previous quarterly dividend of $0.29. Brixmor Property Group's dividend payout ratio is currently 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.