STAG Industrial, Inc. (NYSE:STAG) Sees Significant Increase in Short Interest

STAG Industrial, Inc. (NYSE:STAG) was the target of a significant increase in short interest in February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 4,020,000 shares, an increase of 26.0% from the February 13th total of 3,190,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 1,290,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 3.1 days. Approximately 2.2% of the shares of the stock are short sold.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently commented on STAG shares. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price target on STAG Industrial from $40.00 to $38.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, January 27th. Raymond James upped their target price on STAG Industrial from $39.00 to $40.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Finally, Barclays reduced 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. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $40.38.

Insider Activity

In other STAG Industrial news, Director Benjamin S. Butcher sold 50,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.10, for a total value of $1,755,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 9,632 shares in the company, valued at approximately $338,083.20. This represents a 83.85 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On STAG Industrial

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. FMR LLC raised its holdings in shares of STAG Industrial by 30.1% in 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 purchasing an additional 2,088,839 shares in the last quarter. Earnest Partners LLC increased its holdings in STAG Industrial by 6.6% in the fourth quarter. Earnest Partners LLC now owns 3,795,425 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $128,361,000 after buying an additional 235,622 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC raised its stake in STAG Industrial by 5.9% in the fourth 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 buying an additional 204,948 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in 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 worth $115,748,000 after buying 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 worth $123,883,000 after acquiring an additional 227,629 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 88.67% of the company’s stock.

STAG Industrial Trading Up 1.1 %

STAG Industrial stock traded up $0.38 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $35.83. 1,488,315 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,057,480. The firm has a market cap of $6.68 billion, a PE ratio of 34.45 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a current ratio of 1.36, a quick ratio of 1.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $34.88 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $36.36. STAG Industrial has a 12-month low of $32.27 and a 12-month high of $41.63.

STAG Industrial (NYSE:STAG) last released its 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 net margin of 24.64% and a return on equity of 5.51%. Research analysts expect 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 will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Monday, March 3rd will be paid a dividend of $0.1242 per share. This represents a yield of 4.25%. This is a boost from STAG Industrial’s previous dividend of $0.12. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 28th. STAG Industrial’s payout ratio is presently 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.