Thrivent Financial for Lutherans Increases Stake in Brixmor Property Group Inc. (NYSE:BRX)

Thrivent Financial for Lutherans increased its holdings in shares of Brixmor Property Group Inc. (NYSE:BRX) by 52.6% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 396,855 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after purchasing an additional 136,719 shares during the period. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans’ holdings in Brixmor Property Group were worth $11,048,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Cibc World Markets Corp increased its stake in Brixmor Property Group by 141.4% during the 4th quarter. Cibc World Markets Corp now owns 192,257 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $5,352,000 after buying an additional 112,619 shares during the period. Corient Private Wealth LLC increased its stake in Brixmor Property Group by 9.5% during the 4th quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 16,654 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $464,000 after buying an additional 1,446 shares during the period. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. increased its stake in Brixmor Property Group by 22.5% during the 4th quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 11,777 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $328,000 after buying an additional 2,162 shares during the period. Vestcor Inc increased its stake in Brixmor Property Group by 306.5% during the 4th quarter. Vestcor Inc now owns 113,235 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $3,152,000 after buying an additional 85,379 shares during the period. Finally, Swiss National Bank increased its stake in Brixmor Property Group by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 592,700 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $16,501,000 after buying an additional 4,600 shares during the period. 98.43% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have commented on the stock. BMO Capital Markets upgraded shares of Brixmor Property Group from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $30.00 to $33.00 in a report on Friday, December 6th. Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Brixmor Property Group from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $31.00 price target for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price target on shares of Brixmor Property Group from $31.75 to $31.25 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Scotiabank lowered their price target on shares of Brixmor Property Group from $32.00 to $30.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 28th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Brixmor Property Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $28.00 to $33.00 in a report on Friday, February 14th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Brixmor Property Group currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $30.56.

Brixmor Property Group Stock Down 1.4 %

Shares of NYSE:BRX opened at $25.61 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $7.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.07, a P/E/G ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 1.59. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $26.64 and a 200 day moving average price of $27.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.79, a current ratio of 1.16 and a quick ratio of 1.16. Brixmor Property Group Inc. has a 1-year low of $20.80 and a 1-year high of $30.67.

Brixmor Property Group (NYSE:BRX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 10th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.53 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.22 by $0.31. Brixmor Property Group had a net margin of 26.40% and a return on equity of 11.72%. Sell-side analysts predict that Brixmor Property Group Inc. will post 2.22 EPS for the current year.

Brixmor Property Group Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 2nd will be paid a dividend of $0.2875 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 2nd. This represents a $1.15 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.49%. This is a boost from Brixmor Property Group’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.29. Brixmor Property Group’s dividend payout ratio is currently 103.60%.

Brixmor Property Group Profile

Brixmor Property Group, Inc operates as a real estate investment trust, which engages in owning and operating a portfolio of grocery anchored community and neighborhood shopping centers. The company was founded in 1985 and is headquartered in New York, NY.