Global Net Lease Sees Unusually High Options Volume (NYSE:GNL)

Global Net Lease, Inc. (NYSE:GNL - Get Free Report) was the target of unusually large options trading on Friday. Stock investors purchased 23,535 call options on the company. This is an increase of approximately 3,993% compared to the typical daily volume of 575 call options.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. JMP Securities reissued a "market outperform" rating and set a $9.00 price target on shares of Global Net Lease in a research report on Thursday, June 12th. B. Riley assumed coverage on Global Net Lease in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. They set a "neutral" rating and a $8.00 price target on the stock. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $9.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, major shareholder Nicholas S. Schorsch sold 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $7.99, for a total transaction of $799,000.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 1,529,073 shares of the company's stock, valued at $12,217,293.27. This represents a 6.14% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders have sold 7,703,000 shares of company stock valued at $57,363,290 over the last 90 days. 0.37% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of GNL. CoreCap Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Global Net Lease in the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Ameriflex Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of Global Net Lease in the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. GF Fund Management CO. LTD. bought a new position in shares of Global Net Lease in the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. US Bancorp DE lifted its stake in shares of Global Net Lease by 363.2% in the 4th quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 6,072 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $44,000 after acquiring an additional 4,761 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV lifted its stake in shares of Global Net Lease by 119.4% in the 4th quarter. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV now owns 6,659 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $49,000 after acquiring an additional 3,624 shares during the last quarter. 61.19% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Global Net Lease Price Performance

NYSE GNL traded up $0.15 on Friday, hitting $7.48. 6,758,826 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,596,838. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $7.63 and a 200-day moving average of $7.49. The company has a current ratio of 0.11, a quick ratio of 0.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.76. Global Net Lease has a 52 week low of $6.51 and a 52 week high of $9.11. The stock has a market cap of $1.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -5.05 and a beta of 1.22.

Global Net Lease (NYSE:GNL - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The financial services provider reported $0.29 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.23 by $0.06. Global Net Lease had a negative return on equity of 9.23% and a negative net margin of 40.64%. The firm had revenue of $132.42 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $187.40 million. Analysts expect that Global Net Lease will post 1.26 earnings per share for the current year.

Global Net Lease Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 11th were paid a dividend of $0.19 per share. This represents a $0.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 10.17%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, April 11th. Global Net Lease's payout ratio is presently -51.35%.

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.