Geneos Wealth Management Inc. Has $3.08 Million Stake in Phillips Edison & Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:PECO)

Key Points

• Geneos Wealth Management Inc. significantly increased its stake in Phillips Edison & Company, Inc. by 490.5%, acquiring a total of 84,470 shares valued at approximately $3.08 million by the end of Q1.
• Several institutional investors, including Fifth Third Bancorp and MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB, have also increased their holdings in Phillips Edison, indicating growing interest in the stock.
• Despite reporting positive quarterly earnings, including a slight earnings per share beat, the stock has been downgraded by some analysts and currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" with a target price averaging $38.50.

Geneos Wealth Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Phillips Edison & Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:PECO - Free Report) by 490.5% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 84,470 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 70,164 shares during the quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. owned about 0.07% of Phillips Edison & Company, Inc. worth $3,082,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in PECO. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its holdings in shares of Phillips Edison & Company, Inc. by 2.2% in the fourth 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. FMR LLC lifted its stake in Phillips Edison & Company, Inc. by 14.6% in the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,026,358 shares of the company's stock worth $113,367,000 after acquiring an additional 385,983 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its stake in Phillips Edison & Company, Inc. by 53.6% in the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,737,423 shares of the company's stock worth $65,084,000 after acquiring an additional 606,055 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp lifted its stake in Phillips Edison & Company, Inc. by 26.7% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,690,805 shares of the company's stock worth $63,338,000 after acquiring an additional 356,368 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new position in Phillips Edison & Company, Inc. in the fourth quarter worth approximately $55,977,000. 80.70% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on PECO. Barclays assumed coverage on shares of Phillips Edison & Company, Inc. in a research report on Wednesday, July 2nd. They set an "equal weight" rating and a $37.00 price objective for the company. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Phillips Edison & Company, Inc. from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Saturday, July 26th. Finally, Mizuho lowered their price target on shares of Phillips Edison & Company, Inc. from $38.00 to $37.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, July 17th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $38.50.

Phillips Edison & Company, Inc. Stock Up 0.7%

Shares of PECO traded up $0.22 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $33.75. 575,081 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 774,125. Phillips Edison & Company, Inc. has a 12-month low of $32.40 and a 12-month high of $40.12. The firm has a market cap of $4.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 61.31, a P/E/G ratio of 1.14 and a beta of 0.54. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $35.03 and a 200 day simple moving average of $35.50.

Phillips Edison & Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:PECO - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 24th. The company reported $0.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.63 by $0.01. Phillips Edison & Company, Inc. had a net margin of 9.91% and a return on equity of 2.64%. The company had revenue of $173.47 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $174.38 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.59 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 10.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts expect that Phillips Edison & Company, Inc. will post 2.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Phillips Edison & Company, Inc. Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, July 1st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, June 17th were issued a dividend of $0.1025 per share. This represents a yield of 350.0%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 16th. Phillips Edison & Company, Inc.'s payout ratio is presently 223.64%.

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.