Piedmont Office Realty Trust (NYSE:PDM) Sets New 12-Month High – What’s Next?

Piedmont Office Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:PDM)’s share price hit a new 52-week high on Monday . The stock traded as high as $10.28 and last traded at $10.26, with a volume of 449757 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $9.93.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently issued reports on PDM shares. Truist Financial reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $11.00 target price (up previously from $10.00) on shares of Piedmont Office Realty Trust in a research report on Wednesday, August 14th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Piedmont Office Realty Trust from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd.

Piedmont Office Realty Trust Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.34, a current ratio of 2.40 and a quick ratio of 2.40. The company has a market cap of $1.27 billion, a PE ratio of -16.54 and a beta of 1.22. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $9.50 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $8.05.

Piedmont Office Realty Trust (NYSE:PDM) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The real estate investment trust reported ($0.08) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.37 by ($0.45). Piedmont Office Realty Trust had a negative net margin of 14.24% and a negative return on equity of 4.84%. The company had revenue of $143.26 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $141.25 million. Equities analysts predict that Piedmont Office Realty Trust, Inc. will post 1.5 EPS for the current year.

Piedmont Office Realty Trust Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 20th. Investors of record on Friday, August 23rd were issued a $0.125 dividend. This represents a $0.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.87%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 23rd. Piedmont Office Realty Trust’s dividend payout ratio is currently -81.97%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Piedmont Office Realty Trust by 38.3% during the second quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 4,654 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 1,288 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company grew its position in shares of Piedmont Office Realty Trust by 2.9% in the second quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 46,090 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $334,000 after purchasing an additional 1,311 shares during the period. CWM LLC increased its stake in Piedmont Office Realty Trust by 15.1% in the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 12,772 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $129,000 after purchasing an additional 1,678 shares during the last quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC lifted its position in Piedmont Office Realty Trust by 8.5% during the first quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 22,203 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $156,000 after buying an additional 1,748 shares during the period. Finally, Scharf Investments LLC grew its holdings in Piedmont Office Realty Trust by 18.8% in the 1st quarter. Scharf Investments LLC now owns 15,658 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $110,000 after buying an additional 2,475 shares during the period. 84.48% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Piedmont Office Realty Trust Company Profile

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.