Global Net Lease, Inc. (NYSE:GNL) Short Interest Up 17.6% in May

Global Net Lease, Inc. (NYSE:GNL - Get Free Report) was the recipient of a significant increase in short interest in the month of May. As of May 15th, there was short interest totalling 7,800,000 shares, an increase of 17.6% from the April 30th total of 6,630,000 shares. Currently, 3.4% of the company's shares are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 1,940,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 4.0 days.

Global Net Lease Trading Up 0.1%

GNL stock traded up $0.01 on Thursday, reaching $7.58. The company's stock had a trading volume of 949,658 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,543,175. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $7.60 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $7.48. Global Net Lease has a 12-month low of $6.51 and a 12-month high of $9.11. The firm has a market cap of $1.73 billion, a PE ratio of -8.06 and a beta of 1.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a quick ratio of 0.06 and a current ratio of 0.06.

Global Net Lease (NYSE:GNL - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The financial services provider reported $0.29 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.23 by $0.06. Global Net Lease had a negative return on equity of 7.04% and a negative net margin of 21.37%. The company had revenue of $132.42 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $187.40 million. As a group, research analysts forecast that Global Net Lease will post 1.26 EPS for the current year.

Global Net Lease Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 11th were issued a $0.19 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, April 11th. This represents a $0.76 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 10.03%. Global Net Lease's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -51.35%.

Insider Activity

In other news, major shareholder Nicholas S. Schorsch sold 200,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $7.95, for a total transaction of $1,590,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 1,629,073 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $12,951,130.35. This represents a 10.93% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.37% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Global Net Lease

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Northern Trust Corp raised its holdings in Global Net Lease by 26.3% in the fourth 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 in the last quarter. Barclays PLC raised its holdings in Global Net Lease by 312.3% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 339,701 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $2,859,000 after purchasing an additional 257,310 shares in the last quarter. US Bancorp DE raised its holdings in Global Net Lease by 363.2% in the fourth quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 6,072 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $44,000 after purchasing an additional 4,761 shares in the last quarter. Swiss National Bank raised its holdings in Global Net Lease by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 385,257 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $2,812,000 after purchasing an additional 3,100 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in Global Net Lease by 3.0% in the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 960,682 shares of the financial services provider's stock worth $7,013,000 after purchasing an additional 27,564 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 61.19% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, B. Riley initiated coverage on Global Net Lease in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. They set a "neutral" rating and a $8.00 price objective for the company. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Global Net Lease presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $9.00.

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.

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