Short Interest in Phillips Edison & Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:PECO) Rises By 35.8%

Phillips Edison & Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:PECO - Get Free Report) saw 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 daily volume of 639,200 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 5.9 days. Currently, 3.1% of the shares of the company are sold short.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Phillips Edison & Company, Inc.

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Phillips Edison & Company, Inc. by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 19,322,342 shares of the company's stock valued at $723,815,000 after buying an additional 82,913 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake in shares of Phillips Edison & Company, Inc. by 2.2% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 7,537,917 shares of the company's stock valued at $282,370,000 after purchasing an additional 161,963 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its holdings in Phillips Edison & Company, Inc. by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 7,068,684 shares of the company's stock worth $267,289,000 after purchasing an additional 18,429 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Phillips Edison & Company, Inc. by 0.6% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,190,836 shares of the company's stock valued at $120,347,000 after buying an additional 19,205 shares in the last quarter. Finally, FMR LLC grew its stake in Phillips Edison & Company, Inc. by 14.6% in the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,026,358 shares of the company's stock valued at $113,367,000 after acquiring an additional 385,983 shares during the period. 80.70% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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Phillips Edison & Company, Inc. Stock Performance

NASDAQ PECO traded down $0.20 on Friday, reaching $35.95. 839,712 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 589,098. Phillips Edison & Company, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $30.62 and a fifty-two week high of $40.12. The firm has a market cap of $4.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 71.90, a P/E/G ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 0.57. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $36.49 and a 200-day moving average price of $37.40.

Phillips Edison & Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:PECO - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The company reported $0.62 earnings per share (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%. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Phillips Edison & Company, Inc. will post 2.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Phillips Edison & Company, Inc. Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a monthly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 17th will be given a $0.1025 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 17th. This represents a $1.23 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.42%. Phillips Edison & Company, Inc.'s dividend payout ratio is presently 246.00%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have issued reports on PECO. 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. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on Phillips Edison & Company, Inc. from $39.00 to $37.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. 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 research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Wolfe Research raised Phillips Edison & Company, Inc. from a "peer perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $44.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $39.00.

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.