STAG Industrial, Inc. (NYSE:STAG) Given Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

Shares of STAG Industrial, Inc. (NYSE:STAG) have earned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the eight brokerages that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and four have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year target price among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $40.38.

Several equities analysts recently commented on the company. Barclays dropped their target price on STAG Industrial from $40.00 to $37.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their target price on STAG Industrial from $40.00 to $38.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Raymond James upped their target price on STAG Industrial from $39.00 to $40.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th.

STAG Industrial Stock Performance

NYSE STAG opened at $35.83 on Thursday. STAG Industrial has a fifty-two week low of $32.27 and a fifty-two week high of $41.63. The stock has a market cap of $6.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.45 and a beta of 1.05. The business has a fifty day moving average of $34.88 and a 200-day moving average of $36.36. The company has a quick ratio of 1.36, a current ratio of 1.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86.

STAG Industrial (NYSE:STAG) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.61 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.18 by $0.43. STAG Industrial had a return on equity of 5.51% and a net margin of 24.64%. As a group, analysts predict that STAG Industrial will post 2.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

STAG Industrial Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 3rd were paid a dividend of $0.1242 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 28th. This represents a yield of 4.25%. This is a boost from STAG Industrial’s previous dividend of $0.12. STAG Industrial’s dividend payout ratio is presently 143.27%.

Insider Buying and Selling at STAG Industrial

In related news, Director Benjamin S. Butcher sold 50,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.10, for a total value of $1,755,000.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 9,632 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $338,083.20. This trade represents a 83.85 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of STAG Industrial

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Point72 DIFC Ltd acquired a new position in shares of STAG Industrial during the 3rd quarter valued at $717,000. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of STAG Industrial by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,403,540 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $133,077,000 after acquiring an additional 21,925 shares during the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets grew its holdings in shares of STAG Industrial by 169.6% in the 3rd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 132,412 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $5,176,000 after acquiring an additional 83,296 shares during the last quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans grew its holdings in shares of STAG Industrial by 3.6% in the 3rd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 626,981 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $24,509,000 after acquiring an additional 21,764 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Quest Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of STAG Industrial in the 3rd quarter worth $566,000. Institutional investors own 88.67% of the company’s stock.

About STAG Industrial

STAG Industrial, Inc is a real estate investment company, which engages in acquiring, owning, and managing single-tenant, industrial real estate assets. It offers industrial real estate operating platform to real estate ownership. The company was founded by Benjamin S. Butcher on July 21, 2010 and is headquartered in Boston, MA.