Brixmor Property Group Inc. (NYSE:BRX) Short Interest Up 5.4% in December

Brixmor Property Group Inc. (NYSE:BRX) was the recipient of a significant increase in short interest in the month of December. As of December 15th, there was short interest totalling 9,030,000 shares, an increase of 5.4% from the November 30th total of 8,570,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 2,040,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 4.4 days.

Insider Activity at Brixmor Property Group

In other news, insider Steven F. Siegel sold 25,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $29.54, for a total transaction of $738,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 315,004 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,305,218.16. This represents a 7.35 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.76% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Brixmor Property Group

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. UMB Bank n.a. grew its holdings in Brixmor Property Group by 328.6% during the 3rd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 943 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 723 shares in the last quarter. Quarry LP increased its holdings in Brixmor Property Group by 36.3% in the third quarter. Quarry LP now owns 1,368 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 364 shares during the last quarter. Maryland Capital Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in Brixmor Property Group during the third quarter valued at approximately $46,000. Blue Trust Inc. raised its position in shares of Brixmor Property Group by 103.7% during the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,844 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $79,000 after acquiring an additional 1,448 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in Brixmor Property Group by 53.1% in the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 4,421 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $123,000 after acquiring an additional 1,533 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.43% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

BRX has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Evercore ISI reduced their price objective on shares of Brixmor Property Group from $32.00 to $31.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, December 24th. Compass Point boosted their target price on Brixmor Property Group from $28.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on Brixmor Property Group from $25.50 to $27.50 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 29th. KeyCorp boosted their price objective on shares of Brixmor Property Group from $28.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upgraded shares of Brixmor Property Group from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their target price for the company from $30.00 to $33.00 in a report on Friday, December 6th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $30.19.

Brixmor Property Group Trading Up 1.4 %

BRX stock opened at $27.84 on Thursday. Brixmor Property Group has a 52 week low of $20.80 and a 52 week high of $30.67. The company has a market cap of $8.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.78, a PEG ratio of 3.96 and a beta of 1.58. The company has a quick ratio of 1.38, a current ratio of 1.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.85. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $28.65 and a 200-day simple moving average of $26.77.

Brixmor Property Group (NYSE:BRX) last issued its earnings results on Monday, October 28th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.53 by ($0.21). Brixmor Property Group had a return on equity of 11.48% and a net margin of 25.81%. The firm had revenue of $320.68 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $320.22 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.50 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts expect that Brixmor Property Group will post 2.14 EPS for the current year.

Brixmor Property Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Investors of record on Friday, January 3rd will be paid a $0.287 dividend. This is a boost from Brixmor Property Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.27. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 3rd. This represents a $1.15 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.12%. Brixmor Property Group’s payout ratio is 106.48%.

About Brixmor Property Group

Brixmor (NYSE: BRX) is a real estate investment trust (REIT) that owns and operates a high-quality, national portfolio of open-air shopping centers. Its 362 retail centers comprise approximately 64 million square feet of prime retail space in established trade areas. The Company strives to own and operate shopping centers that reflect Brixmor's vision to be the center of the communities we serve and are home to a diverse mix of thriving national, regional and local retailers.