Piedmont Office Realty Trust (NYSE:PDM) Cut to “Neutral” at Robert W. Baird

Robert W. Baird downgraded shares of Piedmont Office Realty Trust (NYSE:PDM) from an outperform rating to a neutral rating in a research note issued to investors on Thursday, Marketbeat reports. Robert W. Baird currently has $11.00 target price on the real estate investment trust’s stock.

Piedmont Office Realty Trust Stock Up 0.3 %

Shares of PDM stock opened at $8.81 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 2.22, a current ratio of 2.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.36. The stock has a market cap of $1.09 billion, a P/E ratio of -14.20 and a beta of 1.19. Piedmont Office Realty Trust has a 52 week low of $5.93 and a 52 week high of $11.11. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $9.16 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $9.28.

Piedmont Office Realty Trust (NYSE:PDM) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 24th. The real estate investment trust reported ($0.09) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.37 by ($0.46). The business had revenue of $139.29 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $143.56 million. Piedmont Office Realty Trust had a negative net margin of 13.47% and a negative return on equity of 4.61%. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.43 EPS. Analysts predict that Piedmont Office Realty Trust will post 1.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Piedmont Office Realty Trust Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 22nd were paid a $0.125 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 22nd. This represents a $0.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.68%. Piedmont Office Realty Trust’s payout ratio is -80.64%.

Institutional Trading of Piedmont Office Realty Trust

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. boosted 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 valued at $48,000 after acquiring an additional 1,241 shares in the last quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC raised its holdings in shares of Piedmont Office Realty Trust by 51.3% during the third quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 4,916 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $50,000 after purchasing an additional 1,666 shares during the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. purchased a new position in Piedmont Office Realty Trust during the second quarter valued at approximately $85,000. Mackenzie Financial Corp acquired a new position in shares of Piedmont Office Realty Trust in the 2nd quarter valued at $98,000. Finally, Optas LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Piedmont Office Realty Trust during the 3rd quarter worth about $101,000. Institutional investors own 84.48% of the company’s stock.

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.