2,556,598 Shares in Global Net Lease, Inc. $GNL Purchased by Conversant Capital LLC

Key Points

• Conversant Capital LLC has purchased $20.56 million worth of stock in Global Net Lease, Inc., becoming its 9th largest holding.
• A range of institutional investors, including Northern Trust Corp and Brown Advisory Inc., have also increased their positions in Global Net Lease during recent reporting periods.
• Global Net Lease has announced a quarterly dividend of $0.19, yielding approximately 9.8%, despite a negative net margin of 43.75%.

Conversant Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Global Net Lease, Inc. (NYSE:GNL - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 2,556,598 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $20,555,000. Global Net Lease accounts for about 3.4% of Conversant Capital LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 9th biggest holding. Conversant Capital LLC owned about 1.12% of Global Net Lease at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. Ieq Capital LLC grew its position in Global Net Lease by 26.4% in the 1st quarter. Ieq Capital LLC now owns 63,804 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $513,000 after purchasing an additional 13,343 shares during the period. Kestra Advisory Services LLC grew its position in Global Net Lease by 0.7% in the 1st quarter. Kestra Advisory Services LLC now owns 538,628 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $4,331,000 after purchasing an additional 3,606 shares during the period. Aberdeen Group plc grew its position in Global Net Lease by 34.4% in the 1st quarter. Aberdeen Group plc now owns 97,593 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $778,000 after purchasing an additional 24,963 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd. grew its position in Global Net Lease by 55.2% in the 1st quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 36,265 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $292,000 after purchasing an additional 12,895 shares during the period. Finally, Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its position in Global Net Lease by 9.0% in the 1st quarter. Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 85,990 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $688,000 after purchasing an additional 7,132 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 61.19% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Nicholas S. Schorsch sold 300,000 shares of Global Net Lease stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $7.33, for a total value of $2,199,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 19,607,384 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $143,722,124.72. This trade represents a 1.51% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Edward M. Jr. Weil sold 150,000 shares of Global Net Lease stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 584,053 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,444,643.33. This trade represents a 20.43% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 7,553,000 shares of company stock valued at $56,115,790. 0.37% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Global Net Lease Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE GNL traded up $0.02 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $7.83. 534,359 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,735,347. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -5.43 and a beta of 1.22. Global Net Lease, Inc. has a 52 week low of $6.51 and a 52 week high of $9.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.90, a current ratio of 0.13 and a quick ratio of 0.13. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $7.44 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $7.58.

Global Net Lease (NYSE:GNL - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The financial services provider reported $0.24 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.20 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $124.91 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $138.38 million. Global Net Lease had a negative return on equity of 9.71% and a negative net margin of 43.75%. Analysts predict that Global Net Lease, Inc. will post 1.26 EPS for the current year.

Global Net Lease Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 16th. Investors of record on Friday, July 11th were issued a $0.19 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, July 11th. This represents a $0.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 9.7%. Global Net Lease's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -52.78%.

About Global Net Lease

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.