Piedmont Office Realty Trust (NYSE:PDM) Lowered to Sell Rating by StockNews.com

StockNews.com downgraded shares of Piedmont Office Realty Trust (NYSE:PDM) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research note issued to investors on Monday morning.

Other equities analysts have also issued reports about the stock. Baird R W lowered shares of Piedmont Office Realty Trust from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Robert W. Baird cut shares of Piedmont Office Realty Trust from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $11.00 price target for the company. in a research note on Thursday, January 16th.

Piedmont Office Realty Trust Stock Performance

NYSE PDM opened at $8.81 on Monday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $9.13 and a two-hundred day moving average of $9.31. The company has a market capitalization of $1.09 billion, a PE ratio of -14.20 and a beta of 1.19. Piedmont Office Realty Trust has a 1 year low of $5.93 and a 1 year high of $11.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.36, a current ratio of 2.22 and a quick ratio of 2.22.

Piedmont Office Realty Trust (NYSE:PDM) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The real estate investment trust reported ($0.09) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.37 by ($0.46). The firm had revenue of $139.29 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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 period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.43 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that Piedmont Office Realty Trust will post 1.49 earnings per share for the current year.

Piedmont Office Realty Trust Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 22nd were issued a $0.125 dividend. This represents a $0.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.68%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 22nd. Piedmont Office Realty Trust’s payout ratio is currently -80.65%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Piedmont Office Realty Trust

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Barclays PLC lifted its stake in shares of Piedmont Office Realty Trust by 88.7% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 237,407 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $2,398,000 after acquiring an additional 111,596 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC raised its holdings in Piedmont Office Realty Trust by 16.7% during the third quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 400,977 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $4,050,000 after purchasing an additional 57,347 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its position in Piedmont Office Realty Trust by 45.3% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,534,770 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $15,501,000 after purchasing an additional 478,560 shares during the period. Creative Planning boosted its holdings in Piedmont Office Realty Trust by 7.0% in the 2nd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 53,425 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $387,000 after purchasing an additional 3,496 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. increased its position in Piedmont Office Realty Trust by 72.5% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 148,046 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,519,000 after purchasing an additional 62,233 shares during the period. 84.48% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Piedmont Office Realty Trust Company Profile

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.