Vanguard Group Inc. Trims Stock Holdings in STAG Industrial, Inc. (NYSE:STAG)

Vanguard Group Inc. lessened its stake in shares of STAG Industrial, Inc. (NYSE:STAG) by 0.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 25,830,899 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after selling 93,797 shares during the quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. owned 14.18% of STAG Industrial worth $873,601,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Sugar Maple Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of STAG Industrial during the 4th quarter worth approximately $43,000. Hilltop National Bank boosted 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 buying an additional 362 shares during the period. Principal Securities Inc. grew its stake 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 buying an additional 510 shares in the last quarter. Aew Capital Management L P raised its holdings in shares of STAG Industrial by 52.4% in the 4th quarter. Aew Capital Management L P now owns 3,200 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $108,000 after buying an additional 1,100 shares during the period. Finally, Venturi Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in STAG Industrial during the 4th quarter valued at about $109,000. 88.67% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

STAG Industrial Trading Up 0.4 %

Shares of NYSE:STAG opened at $35.58 on Friday. STAG Industrial, Inc. has a 52 week low of $32.27 and a 52 week high of $41.63. The company’s 50 day moving average is $35.17 and its two-hundred day moving average is $36.08. The company has a market cap of $6.64 billion, a PE ratio of 34.21 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.

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

STAG Industrial Increases Dividend

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

Insider Activity at STAG Industrial

In related news, Director Benjamin S. Butcher sold 50,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 directly owns 9,632 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $338,083.20. The trade was a 83.85 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have issued reports on STAG. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price target 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. Raymond James increased their target price 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. Finally, Barclays dropped their price target on shares of STAG Industrial from $40.00 to $37.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 28th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $40.38.

STAG Industrial 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.