Texas Permanent School Fund Corp Boosts Stock Position in STAG Industrial, Inc. (NYSE:STAG)

Texas Permanent School Fund Corp raised its stake in shares of STAG Industrial, Inc. (NYSE:STAG) by 1.3% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 158,909 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after buying an additional 2,078 shares during the quarter. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp owned about 0.09% of STAG Industrial worth $6,108,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in STAG. Norges Bank bought a new stake in STAG Industrial in the 4th quarter worth about $69,990,000. Cohen & Steers Inc. lifted its position in STAG Industrial by 944.0% during the fourth quarter. Cohen & Steers Inc. now owns 1,121,330 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $44,023,000 after purchasing an additional 1,013,926 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its position in STAG Industrial by 22.4% in 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 purchasing an additional 961,420 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd. raised its stake in STAG Industrial by 274.5% during the 4th quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 1,078,879 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $42,392,000 after buying an additional 790,794 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Daiwa Securities Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of STAG Industrial by 89.5% during the 1st quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 1,268,181 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $48,749,000 after buying an additional 598,788 shares during the period. 88.67% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have weighed in on STAG. BMO Capital Markets reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $42.00 target price (up previously from $41.00) on shares of STAG Industrial in a report on Monday, April 8th. Wedbush initiated coverage on shares of STAG Industrial in a research note on Friday. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $38.00 price objective on the stock. Barclays cut their target price on shares of STAG Industrial from $40.00 to $39.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 24th. Finally, BNP Paribas started coverage on shares of STAG Industrial in a research note on Tuesday, June 4th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $39.00 price target on the stock. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $38.90.

STAG Industrial Price Performance

Shares of STAG traded up $0.27 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $37.60. 48,440 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,102,359. STAG Industrial, Inc. has a 52-week low of $31.69 and a 52-week high of $39.61. The company has a current ratio of 1.75, a quick ratio of 1.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78. The company has a market cap of $6.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.13 and a beta of 1.09. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $35.46 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $36.81.

STAG Industrial Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a monthly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, July 31st will be paid a $0.1233 dividend. This is a positive change from STAG Industrial’s previous monthly dividend of $0.12. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, July 31st. This represents a $1.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.94%. STAG Industrial’s dividend payout ratio is 148.00%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other STAG Industrial news, Director Benjamin S. Butcher sold 30,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $34.81, for a total value of $1,044,300.00. Following the completion of 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 filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 1.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

STAG Industrial Profile

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.