First Industrial Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:FR) Short Interest Update

First Industrial Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:FR) was the recipient of a significant increase in short interest during the month of March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,920,000 shares, an increase of 23.1% from the February 28th total of 1,560,000 shares. Currently, 1.5% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 1,180,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 1.6 days.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Versant Capital Management Inc raised its holdings in shares of First Industrial Realty Trust by 92.5% during the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 1,001 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $50,000 after acquiring an additional 481 shares during the period. UMB Bank n.a. grew its holdings in shares of First Industrial Realty Trust by 24.7% in the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 1,081 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $54,000 after acquiring an additional 214 shares in the last quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in First Industrial Realty Trust by 200.8% in the fourth quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,119 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $56,000 after purchasing an additional 747 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. increased its position in First Industrial Realty Trust by 30.7% during the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,243 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $62,000 after buying an additional 292 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its stake in First Industrial Realty Trust by 73.2% in the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,360 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $68,000 after acquiring an additional 575 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 99.85% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have commented on FR shares. Barclays reaffirmed a “cautious” rating on shares of First Industrial Realty Trust in a research note on Tuesday, March 25th. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on shares of First Industrial Realty Trust from $59.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft assumed coverage on shares of First Industrial Realty Trust in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. They set a “hold” rating and a $52.00 price target on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded First Industrial Realty Trust from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $52.00 to $59.00 in a report on Friday, February 21st. Finally, KeyCorp upgraded First Industrial Realty Trust from an “underweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $58.38.

First Industrial Realty Trust Trading Down 4.5 %

First Industrial Realty Trust stock traded down $2.44 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $51.61. 1,340,443 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,074,002. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $55.11 and its 200-day moving average is $53.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a current ratio of 1.21. First Industrial Realty Trust has a fifty-two week low of $45.10 and a fifty-two week high of $58.17. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.67 and a beta of 1.07.

First Industrial Realty Trust (NYSE:FR) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.71 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.35 by $0.36. First Industrial Realty Trust had a return on equity of 10.64% and a net margin of 42.94%. On average, analysts predict that First Industrial Realty Trust will post 2.89 earnings per share for the current year.

First Industrial Realty Trust Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 21st. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st will be paid a dividend of $0.445 per share. This represents a $1.78 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.45%. This is a boost from First Industrial Realty Trust’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.37. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. First Industrial Realty Trust’s dividend payout ratio is presently 81.65%.

About First Industrial Realty Trust

First Industrial Realty Trust, Inc (NYSE: FR) is a leading U.S.-only owner, operator, developer and acquirer of logistics properties. Through our fully integrated operating and investing platform, we provide high quality facilities and industry-leading customer service to multinational corporations and regional firms that are essential for their supply chains.