Global Net Lease, Inc. $GNL Shares Acquired by Advisors Asset Management Inc.

Key Points

• Advisors Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in Global Net Lease, Inc. by 5.6% during Q1, owning approximately 1.5 million shares valued at $12.15 million.
• Several institutional investors have significantly raised their positions in Global Net Lease, with Northern Trust Corp increasing its holdings by 26.3% in the last quarter.
• Global Net Lease recently reported earnings of $0.24 EPS for the quarter, surpassing estimates, and declared a quarterly dividend of $0.19 per share, offering a yield of 9.7%.

Advisors Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Global Net Lease, Inc. (NYSE:GNL - Free Report) by 5.6% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,511,377 shares of the financial services provider's stock after buying an additional 80,797 shares during the period. Advisors Asset Management Inc. owned 0.66% of Global Net Lease worth $12,151,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Northern Trust Corp raised its holdings in shares of Global Net Lease by 26.3% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 2,612,357 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $19,070,000 after purchasing an additional 544,719 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Global Net Lease by 2.7% in the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 986,423 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $7,931,000 after purchasing an additional 25,741 shares during the period. Allianz Asset Management GmbH raised its holdings in shares of Global Net Lease by 177.1% in the 1st quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 386,718 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $3,109,000 after purchasing an additional 247,140 shares during the period. M&T Bank Corp raised its holdings in shares of Global Net Lease by 185.8% in the 1st quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 34,749 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $279,000 after purchasing an additional 22,590 shares during the period. Finally, Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH purchased a new position in shares of Global Net Lease in the 1st quarter worth about $355,000. 61.19% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

GNL has been the topic of several analyst reports. KeyCorp upgraded Global Net Lease from a "sector weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and set a $9.00 target price on the stock in a report on Tuesday, August 19th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Global Net Lease from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, August 22nd. Colliers Securities upgraded Global Net Lease from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $12.00 target price on the stock in a report on Thursday, August 7th. Finally, JMP Securities reiterated a "market outperform" rating and set a $9.00 target price on shares of Global Net Lease in a report on Thursday, June 12th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have given a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Global Net Lease currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $9.20.

Global Net Lease Stock Up 1.3%

NYSE GNL traded up $0.11 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $8.04. 1,247,977 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,210,350. Global Net Lease, Inc. has a 1-year low of $6.51 and a 1-year high of $9.10. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $7.47 and a 200-day simple moving average of $7.59. The company has a current ratio of 0.13, a quick ratio of 0.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.90. The company has a market cap of $1.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -5.58 and a beta of 1.22.

Global Net Lease (NYSE:GNL - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 6th. The financial services provider reported $0.24 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.20 by $0.04. Global Net Lease had a negative return on equity of 9.71% and a negative net margin of 43.75%.The firm had revenue of $124.91 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $138.38 million. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Global Net Lease, Inc. will post 1.26 EPS for the current year.

Global Net Lease Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, July 11th were given a $0.19 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, July 11th. This represents a $0.76 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 9.5%. Global Net Lease's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -52.78%.

Insider Activity at Global Net Lease

In other news, insider Nicholas S. Schorsch sold 7,103,000 shares of Global Net Lease stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $7.43, for a total value of $52,775,290.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 19,907,384 shares in the company, valued at approximately $147,911,863.12. This trade represents a 26.30% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Edward M. Jr. Weil sold 150,000 shares of Global Net Lease stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $7.61, for a total value of $1,141,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 584,053 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,444,643.33. The trade was a 20.43% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 7,553,000 shares of company stock valued at $56,115,790. Insiders own 0.37% of the company's stock.

Global Net Lease Profile

Global Net Lease, Inc NYSE: GNL is a publicly traded real estate investment trust listed on the NYSE. The firm focused on acquiring a diversified global portfolio of commercial properties, with an emphasis on sale-leaseback transactions involving single tenant, mission critical income producing net-leased assets across the United States, Western and Northern Europe.