Piedmont Office Realty Trust (NYSE:PDM) Receives Buy Rating from Truist Financial

Truist Financial reissued their buy rating on shares of Piedmont Office Realty Trust (NYSE:PDM) in a research note released on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. Truist Financial currently has a $10.00 price target on the real estate investment trust’s stock, down from their previous price target of $11.00.

A number of other analysts also recently issued reports on the company. Baird R W downgraded Piedmont Office Realty Trust from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Robert W. Baird decreased their target price on Piedmont Office Realty Trust from $10.00 to $9.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday. Finally, StockNews.com raised Piedmont Office Realty Trust from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, February 17th.

Piedmont Office Realty Trust Stock Up 1.8 %

PDM stock opened at $7.18 on Tuesday. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $8.45 and its 200 day moving average price is $9.29. The firm has a market capitalization of $891.80 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -11.39 and a beta of 1.19. Piedmont Office Realty Trust has a fifty-two week low of $5.93 and a fifty-two week high of $11.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40, a quick ratio of 2.22 and a current ratio of 2.10.

Piedmont Office Realty Trust (NYSE:PDM) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.37 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.37. The company had revenue of $143.23 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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%. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Piedmont Office Realty Trust will post 1.41 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Piedmont Office Realty Trust Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 21st will be issued a dividend of $0.125 per share. This represents a $0.50 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.97%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 21st. Piedmont Office Realty Trust’s payout ratio is -79.37%.

Institutional Trading of Piedmont Office Realty Trust

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Sterling Capital Management LLC increased its position in Piedmont Office Realty Trust by 809.2% during the fourth quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 3,955 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 3,520 shares during the period. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Piedmont Office Realty Trust by 34.8% in 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 during the period. TD Private Client Wealth LLC increased its holdings in shares of 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 valued at $50,000 after acquiring an additional 1,666 shares during the period. Harbour Investments Inc. raised its position in Piedmont Office Realty Trust by 25.4% in the 4th quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. now owns 6,004 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $55,000 after purchasing an additional 1,216 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Point72 Hong Kong Ltd acquired a new stake in Piedmont Office Realty Trust during the 4th quarter worth $59,000. 84.48% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.