StockNews.com Downgrades Piedmont Office Realty Trust (NYSE:PDM) to Sell

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

Other equities analysts have also issued research 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 downgraded Piedmont Office Realty Trust from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $11.00 price target for the company. in a report on Thursday, January 16th.

Piedmont Office Realty Trust Stock Performance

NYSE PDM opened at $8.81 on Monday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $9.13 and a 200 day moving average price of $9.31. The company has a market capitalization of $1.09 billion, a P/E 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 announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The real estate investment trust reported ($0.09) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.37 by ($0.46). Piedmont Office Realty Trust had a negative return on equity of 4.61% and a negative net margin of 13.47%. The business had revenue of $139.29 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $143.56 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.43 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Piedmont Office Realty Trust will post 1.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Piedmont Office Realty Trust Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 2nd. Investors of record on Friday, November 22nd were given a dividend of $0.125 per share. This represents a $0.50 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.68%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 22nd. Piedmont Office Realty Trust’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -80.65%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Piedmont Office Realty Trust

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in PDM. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. raised its position 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 worth $48,000 after buying an additional 1,241 shares during the period. TD Private Client Wealth LLC increased its stake in 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 acquiring an additional 1,666 shares during the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. purchased a new position in shares of Piedmont Office Realty Trust in the 2nd quarter worth about $85,000. Mackenzie Financial Corp acquired a new position in shares of Piedmont Office Realty Trust in the 2nd quarter valued at about $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 and hedge funds 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.