Employees Retirement System of Texas Purchases 9,800 Shares of First Industrial Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:FR)

Employees Retirement System of Texas grew its holdings in shares of First Industrial Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:FR) by 9.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 114,000 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock after purchasing an additional 9,800 shares during the period. Employees Retirement System of Texas owned approximately 0.09% of First Industrial Realty Trust worth $5,715,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in First Industrial Realty Trust by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 19,190,885 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $962,039,000 after buying an additional 304,589 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its position in First Industrial Realty Trust by 28.7% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 3,354,728 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $187,798,000 after purchasing an additional 747,101 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of First Industrial Realty Trust by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,482,693 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $124,492,000 after buying an additional 14,298 shares during the last quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. boosted its position in First Industrial Realty Trust by 5.7% in the 4th quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 2,432,120 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $121,922,000 after purchasing an additional 130,819 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in First Industrial Realty Trust by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,205,880 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $110,581,000 after buying an additional 23,280 shares during the period. 99.85% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

First Industrial Realty Trust Stock Down 5.1 %

NYSE:FR opened at $45.26 on Tuesday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $54.77 and its two-hundred day moving average is $53.48. First Industrial Realty Trust, Inc. has a 52 week low of $44.01 and a 52 week high of $58.17. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.76 and a beta of 1.07. The company has a quick ratio of 1.11, a current ratio of 1.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80.

First Industrial Realty Trust (NYSE:FR) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.35 by $0.36. First Industrial Realty Trust had a net margin of 42.94% and a return on equity of 10.64%. Research analysts anticipate that First Industrial Realty Trust, Inc. will post 2.89 EPS for the current year.

First Industrial Realty Trust Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 21st. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st will be paid a dividend of $0.445 per share. This represents a $1.78 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.93%. This is a boost from First Industrial Realty Trust’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.37. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 31st. First Industrial Realty Trust’s payout ratio is presently 81.65%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group raised First Industrial Realty Trust from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $52.00 to $59.00 in a report on Friday, February 21st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft assumed coverage on First Industrial Realty Trust in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. They set a “hold” rating and a $52.00 price target for the company. Scotiabank decreased their price objective on First Industrial Realty Trust from $58.00 to $50.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on shares of First Industrial Realty Trust from $59.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Finally, KeyCorp raised shares of First Industrial Realty Trust from an “underweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, First Industrial Realty Trust presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $57.77.

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.