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

Shares of STAG Industrial, Inc. (NYSE:STAG) have earned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the eight analysts that are covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. The average 1 year target price among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $40.38.

A number of analysts recently issued reports on STAG shares. Raymond James raised their price target on STAG Industrial from $39.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Barclays decreased their target price 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. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on STAG Industrial from $41.00 to $38.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada decreased their target price on STAG Industrial from $40.00 to $38.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 27th.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Benjamin S. Butcher sold 50,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the director now owns 9,632 shares in the company, valued at approximately $338,083.20. This trade represents a 83.85 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On STAG Industrial

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Sugar Maple Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in STAG Industrial in the fourth quarter valued at about $43,000. Coastline Trust Co purchased a new position in STAG Industrial in the third quarter valued at about $55,000. Quarry LP purchased a new position in STAG Industrial in the fourth quarter valued at about $62,000. Hilltop National Bank grew its stake in STAG Industrial by 19.2% in the fourth quarter. Hilltop National Bank now owns 2,243 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $76,000 after purchasing an additional 362 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Principal Securities Inc. grew its stake in 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 during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.67% of the company’s stock.

STAG Industrial Stock Up 0.1 %

Shares of STAG opened at $35.17 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $6.56 billion, a PE ratio of 33.81 and a beta of 1.09. The business has a fifty day moving average of $34.22 and a 200 day moving average of $36.80. STAG Industrial has a 52-week low of $32.27 and a 52-week high of $41.63. 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 issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.61 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.18 by $0.43. STAG Industrial had a return on equity of 5.51% and a net margin of 24.64%. On average, sell-side analysts expect that STAG Industrial will post 2.47 EPS for the current year.

STAG Industrial Increases Dividend

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

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.