Royal Bank of Canada Reaffirms “Sector Perform” Rating for STAG Industrial (NYSE:STAG)

STAG Industrial (NYSE:STAG)‘s stock had its “sector perform” rating restated by investment analysts at Royal Bank of Canada in a research report issued to clients and investors on Monday,Benzinga reports. They presently have a $38.00 price target on the real estate investment trust’s stock. Royal Bank of Canada’s target price points to a potential upside of 5.99% from the stock’s previous close.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. Barclays lowered 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 report on Tuesday, January 28th. Raymond James upped their price target on shares of STAG Industrial from $36.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. Finally, Robert W. Baird lowered their price target on shares of STAG Industrial from $39.00 to $38.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $39.63.

STAG Industrial Price Performance

Shares of STAG Industrial stock traded down $0.01 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $35.85. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 376,670 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,216,560. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $33.81 and a 200-day moving average price of $34.76. STAG Industrial has a one year low of $28.61 and a one year high of $41.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.86, a current ratio of 1.36 and a quick ratio of 1.36. The stock has a market cap of $6.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.47 and a beta of 0.93.

STAG Industrial (NYSE:STAG) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.61 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.60 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $205.57 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $202.04 million. STAG Industrial had a net margin of 24.64% and a return on equity of 5.51%. The firm’s revenue was up 9.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.59 EPS. On average, analysts predict that STAG Industrial will post 2.47 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Benjamin S. Butcher sold 50,000 shares of the firm’s 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 9,632 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $338,083.20. This trade represents a 83.85% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Company insiders own 1.10% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On STAG Industrial

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Empowered Funds LLC purchased a new position in shares of STAG Industrial in the first quarter worth about $229,000. Dean Capital Management lifted its stake in shares of STAG Industrial by 2.2% in the first quarter. Dean Capital Management now owns 44,383 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,603,000 after buying an additional 964 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of STAG Industrial by 37.0% in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 1,671,949 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $60,391,000 after buying an additional 451,355 shares in the last quarter. Nissay Asset Management Corp Japan ADV raised its stake in STAG Industrial by 2.4% during the first quarter. Nissay Asset Management Corp Japan ADV now owns 27,035 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $977,000 after purchasing an additional 626 shares during the period. Finally, NewEdge Advisors LLC raised its stake in STAG Industrial by 17.6% during the first quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 9,952 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $359,000 after purchasing an additional 1,491 shares during the period. 88.67% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other 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.