First Industrial Realty Trust (NYSE:FR) Reaches New 1-Year High – Still a Buy?

First Industrial Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:FR)’s stock price hit a new 52-week high during trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as $57.39 and last traded at $57.22, with a volume of 89283 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $56.82.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on FR shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft started coverage on shares of First Industrial Realty Trust in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $52.00 target price for the company. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on First Industrial Realty Trust from $59.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised First Industrial Realty Trust from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $52.00 to $59.00 in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Barclays decreased their price target on First Industrial Realty Trust from $56.00 to $55.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, November 18th. Finally, KeyCorp raised First Industrial Realty Trust from an “underweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $58.31.

First Industrial Realty Trust Stock Up 0.2 %

The company has a current ratio of 1.21, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80. The stock has a market cap of $7.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.11 and a beta of 1.09. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $52.57 and its 200-day moving average price is $53.72.

First Industrial Realty Trust (NYSE:FR) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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, sell-side analysts expect that First Industrial Realty Trust, Inc. will post 2.89 earnings per share for the current year.

First Industrial Realty Trust Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 21st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be issued a $0.445 dividend. This represents a $1.78 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.13%. 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 (DPR) is presently 81.65%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On First Industrial Realty Trust

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in FR. Creative Planning bought a new position in First Industrial Realty Trust in the third quarter worth approximately $258,000. Howard Capital Management Group LLC acquired a new stake in First Industrial Realty Trust in the 3rd quarter valued at $206,000. Blue Trust Inc. increased its stake in First Industrial Realty Trust by 201.9% during the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 951 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $53,000 after purchasing an additional 636 shares in the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its stake in First Industrial Realty Trust by 2,886.2% during the 3rd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 18,843 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,055,000 after purchasing an additional 18,212 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of First Industrial Realty Trust by 34.8% during the third quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 5,137 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $288,000 after buying an additional 1,325 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 99.85% of the company’s stock.

First Industrial Realty Trust Company Profile

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.