Piedmont Office Realty Trust’s (PDM) “Buy” Rating Reiterated at Truist Financial

Truist Financial reissued their buy rating on shares of Piedmont Office Realty Trust (NYSE:PDM) in a report published on Tuesday morning,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a $10.00 price target on the real estate investment trust’s stock, down from their previous price target of $11.00.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. StockNews.com raised shares of Piedmont Office Realty Trust from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, February 17th. Robert W. Baird decreased their target price on shares of Piedmont Office Realty Trust from $10.00 to $9.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday. Finally, Baird R W cut shares of Piedmont Office Realty Trust from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th.

Piedmont Office Realty Trust Trading Up 2.7 %

PDM opened at $7.41 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $920.38 million, a P/E ratio of -11.75 and a beta of 1.19. The company has a current ratio of 2.10, a quick ratio of 2.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40. Piedmont Office Realty Trust has a 12 month low of $5.95 and a 12 month high of $11.11. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $8.39 and its 200 day simple moving average is $9.26.

Piedmont Office Realty Trust (NYSE:PDM) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.37 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.37. The company had revenue of $143.23 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $142.16 million. Piedmont Office Realty Trust had a negative return on equity of 4.82% and a negative net margin of 13.86%. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Piedmont Office Realty Trust will post 1.41 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Piedmont Office Realty Trust Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 21st will be issued a $0.125 dividend. This represents a $0.50 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.75%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 21st. Piedmont Office Realty Trust’s payout ratio is presently -79.37%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Piedmont Office Realty Trust

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Mackenzie Financial Corp lifted its stake in Piedmont Office Realty Trust by 178.3% in the fourth quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 65,924 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $603,000 after acquiring an additional 42,239 shares during the last quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP raised its holdings in shares of Piedmont Office Realty Trust by 16.8% in the 4th quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 949,300 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $8,686,000 after purchasing an additional 136,300 shares during the period. Two Sigma Investments LP grew its holdings in Piedmont Office Realty Trust by 11.9% during the fourth quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 757,469 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $6,931,000 after purchasing an additional 80,648 shares during the period. Systematic Financial Management LP increased its position in Piedmont Office Realty Trust by 3.2% during the fourth quarter. Systematic Financial Management LP now owns 1,199,266 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $10,973,000 after buying an additional 36,647 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. acquired a new position in Piedmont Office Realty Trust during the fourth quarter worth approximately $76,000. 84.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Piedmont Office Realty Trust

Piedmont Office Realty Trust, Inc (also referred to herein as "Piedmont" or the "Company") (NYSE: PDM) is an owner, manager, developer, redeveloper and operator of high-quality, Class A office properties located primarily in major U.S. Sunbelt markets. The Company is a fully-integrated, self-managed real estate investment trust ("REIT") with local management offices in each of its markets and is investment-grade rated by Standard & Poor's and Moody's.