Van ECK Associates Corp Boosts Stock Position in Piedmont Office Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:PDM)

Van ECK Associates Corp increased its stake in shares of Piedmont Office Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:PDM) by 23.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 30,299 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,687 shares during the quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp’s holdings in Piedmont Office Realty Trust were worth $277,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. increased its position in Piedmont Office Realty Trust by 34.8% during the 3rd quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 4,809 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $48,000 after purchasing an additional 1,241 shares in the last quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC boosted its stake in Piedmont Office Realty Trust by 51.3% in the 3rd quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 4,916 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $50,000 after buying an additional 1,666 shares during the last quarter. Optas LLC acquired a new stake in Piedmont Office Realty Trust in the 3rd quarter worth about $101,000. Arkadios Wealth Advisors acquired a new stake in Piedmont Office Realty Trust in the 4th quarter worth about $105,000. Finally, Landscape Capital Management L.L.C. acquired a new stake in Piedmont Office Realty Trust in the 3rd quarter worth about $123,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.48% of the company’s stock.

Piedmont Office Realty Trust Price Performance

Shares of NYSE PDM opened at $7.07 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $878.12 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -11.21 and a beta of 1.19. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $8.54 and a 200-day simple moving average of $9.31. 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, Inc. has a twelve month low of $5.93 and a twelve month high of $11.11.

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

Piedmont Office Realty Trust Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 21st will be given a dividend of $0.125 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 21st. This represents a $0.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.08%. Piedmont Office Realty Trust’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -79.37%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have issued reports on the company. Robert W. Baird lowered Piedmont Office Realty Trust from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $11.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. StockNews.com raised Piedmont Office Realty Trust from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, February 17th. Finally, Baird R W lowered Piedmont Office Realty Trust from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th.

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.