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

STAG Industrial, Inc. (NYSE:STAG) has earned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the eight brokerages that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and four have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $40.38.

Several research firms have issued reports on STAG. Barclays lowered their target price on shares of STAG Industrial from $40.00 to $37.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Raymond James increased their price objective on shares of STAG Industrial from $39.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price objective on shares of STAG Industrial from $40.00 to $38.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of STAG Industrial from $41.00 to $38.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, November 4th.

STAG Industrial Price Performance

STAG opened at $35.17 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86, a quick ratio of 1.36 and a current ratio of 1.36. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.81 and a beta of 1.09. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $34.22 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $36.80. STAG Industrial has a 52-week low of $32.27 and a 52-week high of $41.63.

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

STAG Industrial Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 3rd will be issued a dividend of $0.1242 per share. This is a positive change from STAG Industrial’s previous dividend of $0.12. This represents a yield of 4.25%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 28th. STAG Industrial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 143.27%.

Insider Buying and Selling at STAG Industrial

In other STAG Industrial news, Director Benjamin S. Butcher sold 50,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.10, for a total transaction of $1,755,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 9,632 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $338,083.20. This trade represents a 83.85 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On STAG Industrial

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. FMR LLC boosted its position in shares of STAG Industrial by 30.1% during the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 9,024,946 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $305,224,000 after acquiring an additional 2,088,839 shares during the last quarter. Earnest Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of STAG Industrial by 6.6% during the 4th quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 3,795,425 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $128,361,000 after acquiring an additional 235,622 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of STAG Industrial by 5.9% during the 4th quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC now owns 3,679,641 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $124,445,000 after acquiring an additional 204,948 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of STAG Industrial by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,421,549 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $115,748,000 after acquiring an additional 18,009 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of STAG Industrial by 7.7% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,169,164 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $123,883,000 after acquiring an additional 227,629 shares during the last quarter. 88.67% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

STAG Industrial Company Profile

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.