First Industrial Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:FR) Short Interest Update

First Industrial Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:FR) saw a significant increase in short interest in March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,920,000 shares, an increase of 23.1% from the February 28th total of 1,560,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 1,180,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 1.6 days. Approximately 1.5% of the company’s stock are sold short.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On First Industrial Realty Trust

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its position in First Industrial Realty Trust by 92.5% in the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 1,001 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $50,000 after buying an additional 481 shares during the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. grew its position in shares of First Industrial Realty Trust by 24.7% during the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 1,081 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $54,000 after buying an additional 214 shares in the last quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in First Industrial Realty Trust by 200.8% in the fourth quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,119 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $56,000 after acquiring an additional 747 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. grew its stake in shares of First Industrial Realty Trust by 30.7% during the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,243 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $62,000 after purchasing an additional 292 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Smartleaf Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of First Industrial Realty Trust by 73.2% in the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,360 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $68,000 after acquiring an additional 575 shares during the last quarter. 99.85% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

First Industrial Realty Trust Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:FR traded down $2.44 on Thursday, hitting $51.61. 1,340,443 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,074,002. The company has a current ratio of 1.21, a quick ratio of 1.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $55.11 and its 200 day moving average price is $53.68. First Industrial Realty Trust has a 1-year low of $45.10 and a 1-year high of $58.17. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.67 and a beta of 1.07.

First Industrial Realty Trust (NYSE:FR) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.71 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.35 by $0.36. First Industrial Realty Trust had a return on equity of 10.64% and a net margin of 42.94%. Sell-side analysts predict that First Industrial Realty Trust will post 2.89 EPS for the current year.

First Industrial Realty Trust Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 21st. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be paid a $0.445 dividend. This represents a $1.78 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.45%. This is a positive change from First Industrial Realty Trust’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.37. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. First Industrial Realty Trust’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 81.65%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on FR shares. Barclays reiterated a “cautious” rating on shares of First Industrial Realty Trust in a research note on Tuesday, March 25th. KeyCorp upgraded shares of First Industrial Realty Trust from an “underweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on First Industrial Realty Trust from $59.00 to $61.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded shares of First Industrial Realty Trust from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $52.00 to $59.00 in a report on Friday, February 21st. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft began coverage on First Industrial Realty Trust in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. They set a “hold” rating and a $52.00 price target on the stock. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $58.38.

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.