Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Buys Shares of 59,800 Phillips Edison & Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:PECO)

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System bought a new stake in shares of Phillips Edison & Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:PECO) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 59,800 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,182,000. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System owned about 0.05% of Phillips Edison & Company, Inc. at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in PECO. Raymond James & Associates purchased a new stake in Phillips Edison & Company, Inc. during the 1st quarter valued at $935,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its stake in Phillips Edison & Company, Inc. by 395.2% during the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 464,380 shares of the company’s stock valued at $15,970,000 after buying an additional 370,609 shares during the last quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC raised its stake in Phillips Edison & Company, Inc. by 113.0% during the 1st quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 21,301 shares of the company’s stock valued at $733,000 after buying an additional 11,301 shares during the last quarter. Citigroup Inc. raised its stake in Phillips Edison & Company, Inc. by 7.6% during the 1st quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 53,264 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,832,000 after buying an additional 3,775 shares during the last quarter. Finally, PNC Financial Services Group Inc. purchased a new stake in Phillips Edison & Company, Inc. during the 1st quarter valued at $99,000. 80.70% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PECO has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Mizuho raised shares of Phillips Edison & Company, Inc. from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $35.00 to $37.00 in a research report on Friday, February 23rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft initiated coverage on shares of Phillips Edison & Company, Inc. in a research report on Tuesday, January 30th. They set a “buy” rating and a $41.00 price objective for the company. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on shares of Phillips Edison & Company, Inc. from $39.00 to $37.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 14th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $38.14.

Phillips Edison & Company, Inc. Stock Down 1.1 %

Shares of PECO stock opened at $32.02 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $3.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 69.61, a PEG ratio of 3.65 and a beta of 0.55. Phillips Edison & Company, Inc. has a 52 week low of $27.85 and a 52 week high of $37.92. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $34.85 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $35.05.

Phillips Edison & Company, Inc. Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a monthly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 1st. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 15th will be paid a $0.0975 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 12th. This represents a $1.17 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.65%. This is a boost from Phillips Edison & Company, Inc.’s previous monthly dividend of $0.10. Phillips Edison & Company, Inc.’s payout ratio is presently 254.35%.

Phillips Edison & Company, Inc. Profile

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.