The Goldman Sachs Group Upgrades First Industrial Realty Trust (NYSE:FR) to Neutral

The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of First Industrial Realty Trust (NYSE:FR) from a sell rating to a neutral rating in a research note published on Friday, MarketBeat reports. The brokerage currently has $59.00 price objective on the real estate investment trust’s stock, up from their prior price objective of $52.00.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently weighed in on FR. Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of First Industrial Realty Trust from $56.00 to $55.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, November 18th. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on shares of First Industrial Realty Trust from $59.00 to $61.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. KeyCorp raised shares of First Industrial Realty Trust from an “underweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft assumed 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 on the stock. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $58.31.

First Industrial Realty Trust Price Performance

Shares of First Industrial Realty Trust stock opened at $55.69 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 1.21 and a quick ratio of 1.11. First Industrial Realty Trust has a fifty-two week low of $45.10 and a fifty-two week high of $57.35. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $52.26 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $53.65. The company has a market cap of $7.37 billion, a PE ratio of 25.55 and a beta of 1.09.

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 net margin of 42.94% and a return on equity of 10.64%. Analysts expect that First Industrial Realty Trust will post 2.89 EPS for the current year.

First Industrial Realty Trust Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 21st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be paid a $0.445 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. This represents a $1.78 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.20%. This is a positive change from First Industrial Realty Trust’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.37. First Industrial Realty Trust’s dividend payout ratio is currently 81.65%.

Institutional Trading of First Industrial Realty Trust

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of FR. 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 valued at $50,000 after acquiring an additional 481 shares in the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of First Industrial Realty Trust by 77.4% during the third quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 956 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $53,000 after acquiring an additional 417 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. raised its holdings in shares of First Industrial Realty Trust by 201.9% during the third quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 951 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $53,000 after acquiring an additional 636 shares in the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. raised its holdings in shares of First Industrial Realty Trust by 24.7% during the fourth 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. Finally, Venturi Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of First Industrial Realty Trust by 200.8% during 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 acquiring an additional 747 shares in 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.