Broadstone Net Lease, Inc. (NYSE:BNL) Short Interest Up 10.3% in March

Broadstone Net Lease, Inc. (NYSE:BNL) was the recipient of a large growth in short interest in March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 3,440,000 shares, a growth of 10.3% from the March 15th total of 3,120,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 1,320,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.6 days. Currently, 1.9% of the company’s stock are sold short.

Broadstone Net Lease Trading Down 0.7 %

Broadstone Net Lease stock opened at $14.36 on Wednesday. Broadstone Net Lease has a 12 month low of $13.68 and a 12 month high of $17.59. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $15.12 and its 200 day simple moving average is $15.57. The company has a market cap of $2.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.51 and a beta of 1.09.

Broadstone Net Lease Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 29th were given a dividend of $0.285 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, March 27th. This represents a $1.14 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 7.94%. Broadstone Net Lease’s dividend payout ratio is currently 139.03%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BNL has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Truist Financial reduced their target price on Broadstone Net Lease from $18.00 to $17.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, February 27th. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on Broadstone Net Lease in a report on Thursday, March 7th. They issued a “sell” rating and a $14.00 target price for the company. Wolfe Research reiterated a “peer perform” rating on shares of Broadstone Net Lease in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th. Finally, TheStreet downgraded Broadstone Net Lease from a “b-” rating to a “c+” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 22nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Broadstone Net Lease has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $16.75.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO Kevin Fennell acquired 4,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 26th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $14.63 per share, with a total value of $58,520.00. Following the acquisition, the chief financial officer now owns 63,556 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $929,824.28. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In related news, CFO Kevin Fennell acquired 4,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 26th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $14.63 per share, with a total value of $58,520.00. Following the acquisition, the chief financial officer now owns 63,556 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $929,824.28. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Michael A. Coke acquired 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 26th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $14.67 per share, with a total value of $146,700.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 34,817 shares in the company, valued at approximately $510,765.39. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.81% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Broadstone Net Lease

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Broadstone Net Lease by 1.2% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 22,942,959 shares of the company’s stock worth $499,698,000 after acquiring an additional 269,047 shares in the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. lifted its position in shares of Broadstone Net Lease by 8.7% during the second quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 17,809,717 shares of the company’s stock worth $274,982,000 after acquiring an additional 1,423,529 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Broadstone Net Lease by 3.1% during the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 14,904,229 shares of the company’s stock worth $256,651,000 after acquiring an additional 448,338 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its position in shares of Broadstone Net Lease by 6.0% during the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 8,831,473 shares of the company’s stock worth $138,766,000 after acquiring an additional 497,297 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its position in shares of Broadstone Net Lease by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 5,066,020 shares of the company’s stock worth $87,237,000 after buying an additional 55,833 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.07% of the company’s stock.

About Broadstone Net Lease

BNL is an industrial-focused, diversified net lease REIT that acquires, owns, and manages primarily single-tenant commercial real estate properties that are net leased on a long-term basis to a diversified group of tenants. Utilizing an investment strategy underpinned by strong fundamental credit analysis and prudent real estate underwriting, as of September 30, 2023, BNL's diversified portfolio consisted of 800 individual net leased commercial properties with 793 properties located in 44 U.S.