Principal Financial Group Inc. Sells 672,973 Shares of Broadstone Net Lease, Inc. (NYSE:BNL)

Principal Financial Group Inc. lowered its holdings in shares of Broadstone Net Lease, Inc. (NYSE:BNL) by 4.6% during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 14,048,417 shares of the company’s stock after selling 672,973 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned about 7.45% of Broadstone Net Lease worth $266,218,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in shares of Broadstone Net Lease by 257.5% in the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,766 shares of the company’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 1,272 shares during the period. Quarry LP boosted its stake in Broadstone Net Lease by 93.1% in the 2nd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 2,556 shares of the company’s stock valued at $41,000 after buying an additional 1,232 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. grew its position in Broadstone Net Lease by 156.5% in the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 3,902 shares of the company’s stock valued at $74,000 after acquiring an additional 2,381 shares during the period. US Bancorp DE raised its stake in Broadstone Net Lease by 636.6% during the third quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 3,941 shares of the company’s stock worth $75,000 after acquiring an additional 3,406 shares in the last quarter. Finally, KBC Group NV lifted its holdings in shares of Broadstone Net Lease by 29.4% during the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 6,220 shares of the company’s stock valued at $118,000 after acquiring an additional 1,413 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 89.07% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently weighed in on BNL. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on shares of Broadstone Net Lease from $14.50 to $16.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a report on Friday, September 13th. JMP Securities upgraded shares of Broadstone Net Lease from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $21.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Tuesday. Citizens Jmp raised shares of Broadstone Net Lease from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday. Finally, UBS Group initiated coverage on shares of Broadstone Net Lease in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $18.00 target price for the company. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $18.60.

Broadstone Net Lease Trading Down 1.9 %

Shares of NYSE BNL opened at $15.86 on Friday. Broadstone Net Lease, Inc. has a 1-year low of $14.20 and a 1-year high of $19.15. The company has a 50-day moving average of $17.49 and a two-hundred day moving average of $17.34. The company has a market cap of $2.99 billion, a PE ratio of 20.87 and a beta of 1.10.

Broadstone Net Lease (NYSE:BNL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The company reported $0.19 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.34 by ($0.15). The company had revenue of $108.40 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $106.47 million. Broadstone Net Lease had a return on equity of 4.47% and a net margin of 33.56%. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.36 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Broadstone Net Lease, Inc. will post 1.39 earnings per share for the current year.

Broadstone Net Lease Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, December 31st will be issued a $0.29 dividend. This represents a $1.16 annualized dividend and a yield of 7.31%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, December 31st. Broadstone Net Lease’s dividend payout ratio is 152.63%.

About Broadstone Net Lease

Broadstone Net Lease, Inc (the Corporation) is a Maryland corporation formed on October 18, 2007, that elected to be taxed as a real estate investment trust (REIT) commencing with the taxable year ended December 31, 2008. Broadstone Net Lease, LLC (the Corporation’s operating company, or the OP), is the entity through which the Corporation conducts its business and owns (either directly or through subsidiaries) all of the Corporation’s properties.