Dark Forest Capital Management LP Acquires New Stake in Agree Realty Corporation $ADC

Key Points

• Dark Forest Capital Management LP acquired 59,501 shares of Agree Realty Corporation, valued at approximately $4.6 million, marking its entry into the investment of this real estate trust.
• Other hedge funds have significantly increased their stakes in Agree Realty, with Millennium Management growing its holdings by over 1,000% in the last quarter.
• Agree Realty reported a quarterly earnings per share of $1.06, surpassing analysts' expectations, with revenue growth of 15% year-over-year.

Dark Forest Capital Management LP purchased a new position in shares of Agree Realty Corporation (NYSE:ADC - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 59,501 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock, valued at approximately $4,593,000. Dark Forest Capital Management LP owned about 0.05% of Agree Realty as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of ADC. Millennium Management LLC increased its position in Agree Realty by 1,036.9% during the fourth quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 1,171,297 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $82,518,000 after buying an additional 1,068,271 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen LLC acquired a new position in shares of Agree Realty in the first quarter valued at approximately $64,759,000. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its position in shares of Agree Realty by 524.2% in the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 707,421 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $49,838,000 after purchasing an additional 594,080 shares during the last quarter. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH acquired a new position in shares of Agree Realty in the first quarter valued at approximately $41,114,000. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP grew its position in shares of Agree Realty by 664.6% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 590,845 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $41,625,000 after purchasing an additional 513,571 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.83% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Agree Realty

In other news, CEO Joey Agree purchased 4,108 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 13th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $72.15 per share, for a total transaction of $296,392.20. Following the purchase, the chief executive officer owned 633,060 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $45,675,279. The trade was a 0.65% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In the last three months, insiders acquired 6,950 shares of company stock valued at $501,296. 1.80% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently commented on ADC shares. Morgan Stanley downgraded Agree Realty from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and set a $75.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Friday, July 11th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Agree Realty from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Sunday, July 13th. UBS Group boosted their price target on Agree Realty from $80.00 to $82.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 12th. JMP Securities reiterated a "market perform" rating on shares of Agree Realty in a research note on Monday, June 30th. Finally, Truist Financial set a $84.00 price target on Agree Realty in a research note on Friday, August 8th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $80.50.

Agree Realty Price Performance

NYSE ADC traded up $0.99 on Friday, hitting $72.99. 828,151 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 875,473. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $72.74 and a 200-day moving average of $74.29. The company has a current ratio of 0.71, a quick ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.59. Agree Realty Corporation has a 52 week low of $67.58 and a 52 week high of $79.65. The stock has a market cap of $8.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.44, a P/E/G ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 0.56.

Agree Realty (NYSE:ADC - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The real estate investment trust reported $1.06 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.05 by $0.01. Agree Realty had a return on equity of 3.47% and a net margin of 28.16%.The firm had revenue of $175.53 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $173.95 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.04 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was up 15.0% on a year-over-year basis. Agree Realty has set its FY 2025 guidance at 4.290-4.320 EPS. Analysts expect that Agree Realty Corporation will post 4.27 earnings per share for the current year.

Agree Realty Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a monthly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 15th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 29th will be paid a $0.256 dividend. This represents a c) dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.2%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 29th. Agree Realty's dividend payout ratio is presently 182.74%.

About Agree Realty

Agree Realty Corporation is a publicly traded real estate investment trust that is RETHINKING RETAIL through the acquisition and development of properties net leased to industry-leading, omni-channel retail tenants. As of December 31, 2023, the Company owned and operated a portfolio of 2,135 properties, located in 49 states and containing approximately 44.2 million square feet of gross leasable area.