Broadstone Net Lease, Inc. (NYSE:BNL) Short Interest Up 58.6% in February

Broadstone Net Lease, Inc. (NYSE:BNL) was the recipient of a large increase in short interest during the month of February. As of February 15th, there was short interest totalling 4,250,000 shares, an increase of 58.6% from the January 31st total of 2,680,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 1,060,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 4.0 days. Approximately 2.3% of the shares of the company are short sold.

Broadstone Net Lease Price Performance

Shares of Broadstone Net Lease stock traded up $0.01 on Friday, hitting $16.82. The company had a trading volume of 1,476,982 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,074,538. The company has a market cap of $3.18 billion, a PE ratio of 19.33 and a beta of 1.11. Broadstone Net Lease has a 52 week low of $14.20 and a 52 week high of $19.15. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $15.82 and a 200-day simple moving average of $17.15.

Broadstone Net Lease (NYSE:BNL) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 19th. The company reported $0.36 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.20 by $0.16. The firm had revenue of $112.13 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $109.80 million. Broadstone Net Lease had a net margin of 37.62% and a return on equity of 5.10%. On average, equities research analysts predict that Broadstone Net Lease will post 1.43 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Broadstone Net Lease Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st will be issued a dividend of $0.29 per share. This represents a $1.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 6.90%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. Broadstone Net Lease’s payout ratio is 133.33%.

Institutional Trading of Broadstone Net Lease

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in BNL. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Broadstone Net Lease by 1.6% in the 4th quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 14,276,250 shares of the company’s stock valued at $226,423,000 after acquiring an additional 227,833 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Broadstone Net Lease by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,860,444 shares of the company’s stock valued at $77,103,000 after acquiring an additional 15,501 shares in the last quarter. Centersquare Investment Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Broadstone Net Lease by 7.1% in the 4th quarter. Centersquare Investment Management LLC now owns 4,011,419 shares of the company’s stock valued at $63,621,000 after acquiring an additional 265,428 shares in the last quarter. Aew Capital Management L P lifted its position in shares of Broadstone Net Lease by 2.3% in the 4th quarter. Aew Capital Management L P now owns 3,135,949 shares of the company’s stock valued at $49,736,000 after acquiring an additional 69,690 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Broadstone Net Lease by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,077,513 shares of the company’s stock valued at $48,809,000 after acquiring an additional 71,709 shares in the last quarter. 89.07% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have commented on the stock. UBS Group assumed coverage on shares of Broadstone Net Lease in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $18.00 target price for the company. Citizens Jmp upgraded shares of Broadstone Net Lease from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Finally, JMP Securities upgraded shares of Broadstone Net Lease from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $21.00 price objective for the company in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, two have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Broadstone Net Lease has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $18.60.

Broadstone Net Lease Company Profile

Broadstone Net Lease, Inc (the Corporation) is a Maryland corporation formed on October 18, 2007, that elected to be taxed as a real estate investment trust (REIT) commencing with the taxable year ended December 31, 2008. Broadstone Net Lease, LLC (the Corporation’s operating company, or the OP), is the entity through which the Corporation conducts its business and owns (either directly or through subsidiaries) all of the Corporation’s properties.