STAG Industrial, Inc. (NYSE:STAG) Receives Consensus Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

STAG Industrial, Inc. (NYSE:STAG) has been given a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the eight brokerages that are covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and four have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month target price among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $40.38.

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

Insider Activity 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 transaction of $1,755,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 9,632 shares in the company, valued at $338,083.20. This trade represents a 83.85 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of STAG. Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its stake in STAG Industrial by 204.9% in the first quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 753 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 506 shares in the last quarter. Sugar Maple Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in STAG Industrial in the 4th quarter valued at about $43,000. Quarry LP bought a new position in shares of STAG Industrial in the fourth quarter worth about $62,000. Hilltop National Bank lifted its position in shares of STAG Industrial by 19.2% during the fourth quarter. Hilltop National Bank now owns 2,243 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $76,000 after purchasing an additional 362 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Principal Securities Inc. increased its holdings in shares of STAG Industrial by 20.7% in the fourth quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 2,977 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $101,000 after purchasing an additional 510 shares in the last quarter. 88.67% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

STAG Industrial Stock Performance

Shares of STAG opened at $32.88 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 1.36 and a quick ratio of 1.36. STAG Industrial has a one year low of $32.27 and a one year high of $41.63. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $35.25 and its 200 day moving average price is $35.89. The company has a market capitalization of $6.14 billion, a PE ratio of 31.62 and a beta of 0.96.

STAG Industrial (NYSE:STAG) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 12th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.61 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 expect that STAG Industrial will post 2.47 earnings per share for the current year.

STAG Industrial Increases Dividend

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

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.