Wedbush Upgrades STAG Industrial (NYSE:STAG) to “Outperform”

STAG Industrial (NYSE:STAG) was upgraded by research analysts at Wedbush from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note issued to investors on Monday, Marketbeat.com reports. The brokerage presently has a $44.00 price objective on the real estate investment trust’s stock, up from their prior price objective of $38.00. Wedbush’s target price would indicate a potential upside of 9.15% from the company’s current price.

Several other equities research analysts have also commented on the stock. Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of STAG Industrial from $40.00 to $39.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 24th. BMO Capital Markets reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $42.00 price objective (up from $41.00) on shares of STAG Industrial in a research report on Monday, April 8th. Finally, BNP Paribas initiated coverage on shares of STAG Industrial in a research report on Tuesday, June 4th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $39.00 price objective on the stock. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $39.50.

STAG Industrial Price Performance

Shares of NYSE STAG opened at $40.31 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.31, a PEG ratio of 5.67 and a beta of 1.09. STAG Industrial has a one year low of $31.69 and a one year high of $40.51. The company’s fifty day moving average is $36.04 and its two-hundred day moving average is $36.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78, a quick ratio of 1.75 and a current ratio of 1.75.

Insider Buying and Selling at STAG Industrial

In other STAG Industrial news, Director Benjamin S. Butcher sold 30,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $34.81, for a total value of $1,044,300.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 8,304 shares in the company, valued at approximately $289,062.24. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 1.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of STAG Industrial by 0.7% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 26,237,263 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,008,560,000 after acquiring an additional 176,332 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its holdings in shares of STAG Industrial by 22.4% during the 4th quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 5,248,373 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $206,051,000 after acquiring an additional 961,420 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of STAG Industrial by 3.8% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,832,545 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $111,206,000 after acquiring an additional 104,190 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in shares of STAG Industrial by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,660,590 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $104,456,000 after acquiring an additional 39,739 shares during the period. Finally, Boston Trust Walden Corp lifted its holdings in shares of STAG Industrial by 1.0% during the 2nd quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp now owns 2,552,752 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $92,052,000 after acquiring an additional 25,779 shares during the period. 88.67% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About STAG Industrial

We are a REIT focused on the acquisition, ownership, and operation of industrial properties throughout the United States. Our platform is designed to (i) identify properties for acquisition that offer relative value across CBRE-EA Tier 1 industrial real estate markets, industries, and tenants through the principled application of our proprietary risk assessment model, (ii) provide growth through sophisticated industrial operation and an attractive opportunity set, and (iii) capitalize our business appropriately given the characteristics of our assets.