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

Shares of STAG Industrial, Inc. (NYSE:STAG) have been given an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the eight ratings firms that are currently covering the company, 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 12 month price objective among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $40.38.

STAG has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price target on STAG Industrial from $40.00 to $38.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, January 27th. Barclays lowered their price target on STAG Industrial from $40.00 to $37.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 28th. Finally, Raymond James increased their price target on STAG Industrial from $39.00 to $40.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 11th.

STAG Industrial Stock Performance

Shares of STAG opened at $35.44 on Thursday. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $34.97 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $36.32. The company has a current ratio of 1.36, a quick ratio of 1.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86. STAG Industrial has a 12 month low of $32.27 and a 12 month high of $41.63. The company has a market cap of $6.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.07 and a beta of 1.05.

STAG Industrial (NYSE:STAG) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.61 earnings per share 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%. Research analysts anticipate that STAG Industrial will post 2.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

STAG Industrial Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Monday, March 3rd were issued a $0.1242 dividend. This is a boost from STAG Industrial’s previous dividend of $0.12. This represents a yield of 4.25%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 28th. STAG Industrial’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 143.27%.

Insider Buying and Selling at STAG Industrial

In other STAG Industrial news, Director Benjamin S. Butcher sold 50,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, 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 and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Sugar Maple Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in STAG Industrial during the fourth quarter valued at about $43,000. Coastline Trust Co purchased a new position in shares of STAG Industrial during the third quarter valued at about $55,000. Quarry LP purchased a new position in shares of STAG Industrial during the fourth quarter valued at about $62,000. Hilltop National Bank grew 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 valued at $76,000 after purchasing an additional 362 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Principal Securities Inc. grew its position in shares of STAG Industrial by 20.7% during 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 owned by institutional investors.

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.