Geneos Wealth Management Inc. Boosts Stock Position 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. boosted its stake in shares of Phillips Edison & Company, Inc. (NASDAQ:PECO - Free Report) by 490.5% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 84,470 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 70,164 shares during the period. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. owned 0.07% of Phillips Edison & Company, Inc. worth $3,082,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake in 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 buying an additional 161,963 shares during the period. FMR LLC increased its stake in shares of Phillips Edison & Company, Inc. by 14.6% during the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,026,358 shares of the company's stock worth $113,367,000 after purchasing an additional 385,983 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in shares of Phillips Edison & Company, Inc. by 53.6% during the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,737,423 shares of the company's stock worth $65,084,000 after purchasing an additional 606,055 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in shares of Phillips Edison & Company, Inc. by 26.7% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,690,805 shares of the company's stock worth $63,338,000 after purchasing an additional 356,368 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Phillips Edison & Company, Inc. during the fourth quarter worth approximately $55,977,000. 80.70% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Mizuho lowered their target price on 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. Wall Street Zen lowered Phillips Edison & Company, Inc. from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Saturday, July 26th. Finally, Barclays assumed coverage on Phillips Edison & Company, Inc. in a research note on Wednesday, July 2nd. They set an "equal weight" rating and a $37.00 target price on the stock. 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 company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $38.50.

Phillips Edison & Company, Inc. Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ PECO traded down $0.26 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $33.53. 1,469,047 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 769,045. Phillips Edison & Company, Inc. has a twelve month low of $32.40 and a twelve month high of $40.12. The company has a market cap of $4.20 billion, a PE ratio of 13.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.14 and a beta of 0.54. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $35.03 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $35.50.

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

Phillips Edison & Company, Inc. Announces Dividend

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

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.