Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Boosts Stock Position in Phillips Edison & Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:PECO)

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System raised its stake in Phillips Edison & Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:PECO) by 2.0% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 61,600 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,200 shares during the period. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System owned 0.05% of Phillips Edison & Company, Inc. worth $2,015,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Phillips Edison & Company, Inc. by 3.1% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 19,337,030 shares of the company’s stock valued at $693,619,000 after purchasing an additional 577,445 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in Phillips Edison & Company, Inc. by 8.4% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,872,476 shares of the company’s stock valued at $68,308,000 after purchasing an additional 145,078 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Phillips Edison & Company, Inc. in the fourth quarter valued at about $48,562,000. Cetera Investment Advisers grew its stake in Phillips Edison & Company, Inc. by 240.9% in the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 1,170,077 shares of the company’s stock valued at $41,971,000 after purchasing an additional 826,891 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in Phillips Edison & Company, Inc. by 33.8% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 918,665 shares of the company’s stock valued at $33,513,000 after purchasing an additional 232,191 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 80.70% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on PECO shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their price target on Phillips Edison & Company, Inc. from $41.00 to $38.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, May 29th. Compass Point lowered their price target on Phillips Edison & Company, Inc. from $39.00 to $36.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 29th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on Phillips Edison & Company, Inc. from $35.00 to $34.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, May 28th. Finally, Mizuho raised their price target on Phillips Edison & Company, Inc. from $33.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, August 19th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Phillips Edison & Company, Inc. currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $36.83.

Phillips Edison & Company, Inc. Stock Up 1.7 %

Phillips Edison & Company, Inc. stock opened at $36.45 on Friday. Phillips Edison & Company, Inc. has a 52 week low of $30.62 and a 52 week high of $37.92. The company has a market capitalization of $4.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 79.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.32 and a beta of 0.56. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $33.85 and a 200 day moving average price of $33.78.

Phillips Edison & Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:PECO) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The company reported $0.12 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.60 by ($0.48). Phillips Edison & Company, Inc. had a return on equity of 2.23% and a net margin of 9.32%. The firm had revenue of $161.52 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $156.29 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.59 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that Phillips Edison & Company, Inc. will post 2.41 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Phillips Edison & Company, Inc. Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a monthly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 4th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 15th will be issued a $0.097 dividend. This represents a $1.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.19%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 15th. Phillips Edison & Company, Inc.’s payout ratio is presently 254.35%.

About Phillips Edison & Company, Inc.

Phillips Edison & Company, Inc (PECO) is one of the nation's largest owners and operators of omni-channel grocery-anchored shopping centers. Founded in 1991, PECO has generated strong results through its vertically-integrated operating platform and national footprint of well-occupied shopping centers.