Prudential Financial Inc. Buys 292,252 Shares of STAG Industrial, Inc. (NYSE:STAG)

Prudential Financial Inc. boosted its stake in STAG Industrial, Inc. (NYSE:STAG) by 19.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,809,679 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after purchasing an additional 292,252 shares during the period. Prudential Financial Inc.’s holdings in STAG Industrial were worth $61,203,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund boosted its stake in shares of STAG Industrial by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 37,131 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,256,000 after buying an additional 300 shares during the last quarter. Values First Advisors Inc. boosted its position in STAG Industrial by 2.2% in the fourth quarter. Values First Advisors Inc. now owns 14,562 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $492,000 after purchasing an additional 307 shares during the last quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of STAG Industrial by 3.0% during the 4th quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 12,025 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $407,000 after purchasing an additional 347 shares during the period. Peak Financial Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of STAG Industrial by 3.0% during the 4th quarter. Peak Financial Advisors LLC now owns 12,415 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $420,000 after purchasing an additional 356 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hilltop National Bank lifted its stake in shares of STAG Industrial by 19.2% in the 4th quarter. Hilltop National Bank now owns 2,243 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $76,000 after purchasing an additional 362 shares during the period. 88.67% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Barclays cut their target price on shares of 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. Raymond James upped their price objective on STAG Industrial from $39.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Finally, 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. Four 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 company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $40.38.

STAG Industrial Price Performance

Shares of STAG Industrial stock opened at $34.48 on Tuesday. 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, Inc. has a 52 week low of $32.27 and a 52 week high of $41.63. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $35.07 and its 200-day simple moving average is $36.17. The company has a market capitalization of $6.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.16 and a beta of 1.05.

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

STAG Industrial Increases Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling at STAG Industrial

In other news, Director Benjamin S. Butcher sold 50,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the director now directly owns 9,632 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $338,083.20. This represents a 83.85 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

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.