First Industrial Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:FR) Short Interest Up 8.9% in September

First Industrial Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:FR) saw a significant increase in short interest in September. As of September 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,950,000 shares, an increase of 8.9% from the August 31st total of 1,790,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 1,020,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 1.9 days.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On First Industrial Realty Trust

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of First Industrial Realty Trust by 0.4% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 19,190,794 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,008,284,000 after acquiring an additional 77,270 shares in the last quarter. Centersquare Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of First Industrial Realty Trust by 8.4% in the 1st quarter. Centersquare Investment Management LLC now owns 4,932,306 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $259,143,000 after acquiring an additional 380,805 shares in the last quarter. Nomura Holdings Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of First Industrial Realty Trust by 14.9% in the 4th quarter. Nomura Holdings Inc. now owns 3,110,986 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $163,856,000 after acquiring an additional 402,744 shares in the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of First Industrial Realty Trust by 7.3% in the 2nd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,177,761 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $103,465,000 after acquiring an additional 148,996 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in shares of First Industrial Realty Trust by 6.2% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,023,449 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $96,133,000 after acquiring an additional 118,239 shares in the last quarter. 99.85% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

First Industrial Realty Trust Stock Down 1.6 %

NYSE FR traded down $0.87 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $55.11. 712,608 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,073,422. First Industrial Realty Trust has a 12 month low of $40.44 and a 12 month high of $57.35. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $55.11 and a 200 day simple moving average of $50.96. The company has a current ratio of 1.16, a quick ratio of 1.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83. The company has a market capitalization of $7.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.40 and a beta of 1.08.

First Industrial Realty Trust (NYSE:FR) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 17th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.39 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.64 by ($0.25). The company had revenue of $164.10 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $163.48 million. First Industrial Realty Trust had a net margin of 44.46% and a return on equity of 10.72%. First Industrial Realty Trust’s quarterly revenue was up 7.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.61 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that First Industrial Realty Trust will post 2.62 EPS for the current year.

First Industrial Realty Trust Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, October 21st. Investors of record on Monday, September 30th will be given a dividend of $0.37 per share. This represents a $1.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.69%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 30th. First Industrial Realty Trust’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 68.20%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

FR has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. BNP Paribas started coverage on First Industrial Realty Trust in a research note on Tuesday, June 4th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $57.00 price objective on the stock. Truist Financial boosted their price target on First Industrial Realty Trust from $54.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on First Industrial Realty Trust from $50.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 28th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on First Industrial Realty Trust from $46.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Finally, Wolfe Research upgraded First Industrial Realty Trust from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $64.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, August 13th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $56.46.

About First Industrial Realty Trust

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.