STAG Industrial, Inc. (NYSE:STAG) Shares Acquired by Verdence Capital Advisors LLC

Verdence Capital Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of STAG Industrial, Inc. (NYSE:STAG) by 7.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 10,324 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after buying an additional 676 shares during the period. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in STAG Industrial were worth $349,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

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

STAG Industrial Stock Performance

STAG Industrial stock opened at $36.81 on Friday. STAG Industrial, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $32.27 and a fifty-two week high of $41.63. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $34.53 and its 200-day simple moving average is $36.60. 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 company has a market cap of $6.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.39 and a beta of 1.09.

STAG Industrial (NYSE:STAG) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 12th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.61 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.18 by $0.43. STAG Industrial had a net margin of 24.64% and a return on equity of 5.51%. As a group, equities research analysts predict that STAG Industrial, Inc. will post 2.47 EPS for the current year.

STAG Industrial Increases Dividend

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

Insider Activity

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

STAG has been the topic of several research reports. Barclays dropped their price target on shares of STAG Industrial from $40.00 to $37.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 28th. Royal Bank of Canada cut their target price on shares of STAG Industrial from $40.00 to $38.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Raymond James raised 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. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, STAG Industrial presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $40.38.

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.