Piedmont Office Realty Trust (NYSE:PDM) Price Target Cut to $9.00 by Analysts at Robert W. Baird

Piedmont Office Realty Trust (NYSE:PDM) had its target price trimmed by Robert W. Baird from $10.00 to $9.00 in a research note published on Monday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a neutral rating on the real estate investment trust’s stock.

Several other brokerages have also commented on PDM. 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. StockNews.com raised shares of Piedmont Office Realty Trust from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, February 17th.

Piedmont Office Realty Trust Price Performance

Shares of PDM stock opened at $7.05 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40, a current ratio of 2.10 and a quick ratio of 2.22. The company has a market capitalization of $875.64 million, a PE ratio of -11.18 and a beta of 1.19. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $8.49 and its two-hundred day moving average is $9.30. Piedmont Office Realty Trust has a 12 month low of $5.93 and a 12 month high of $11.11.

Piedmont Office Realty Trust (NYSE:PDM) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.37 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.37. The firm had revenue of $143.23 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $142.16 million. Piedmont Office Realty Trust had a negative net margin of 13.86% and a negative return on equity of 4.82%. Analysts predict that Piedmont Office Realty Trust will post 1.41 earnings per share for the current year.

Piedmont Office Realty Trust Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 21st will be paid a dividend of $0.125 per share. This represents a $0.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 7.10%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 21st. Piedmont Office Realty Trust’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -79.37%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Piedmont Office Realty Trust

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Mackenzie Financial Corp lifted its stake in Piedmont Office Realty Trust by 178.3% during the 4th quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 65,924 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $603,000 after acquiring an additional 42,239 shares in the last quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP lifted its position in shares of Piedmont Office Realty Trust by 16.8% during the fourth quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 949,300 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $8,686,000 after purchasing an additional 136,300 shares in the last quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP lifted its position in shares of 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 in the last quarter. Systematic Financial Management LP boosted its stake in shares of Piedmont Office Realty Trust by 3.2% in the fourth quarter. Systematic Financial Management LP now owns 1,199,266 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $10,973,000 after purchasing an additional 36,647 shares during the period. Finally, Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Piedmont Office Realty Trust in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $76,000. 84.48% of the stock is 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.