Piedmont Office Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:PDM) Short Interest Update

Piedmont Office Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:PDM) saw a large drop in short interest during the month of February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 1,910,000 shares, a drop of 29.5% from the February 13th total of 2,710,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 775,300 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.5 days. Approximately 1.6% of the shares of the company are short sold.

Piedmont Office Realty Trust Stock Performance

PDM traded down $0.08 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $7.26. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 167,750 shares, compared to its average volume of 756,372. Piedmont Office Realty Trust has a fifty-two week low of $6.13 and a fifty-two week high of $11.12. The company has a current ratio of 2.10, a quick ratio of 2.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40. The firm has a market capitalization of $902.24 million, a PE ratio of -11.48 and a beta of 1.25. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $7.99 and a 200 day simple moving average of $9.10.

Piedmont Office Realty Trust (NYSE:PDM) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.37 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.37. Piedmont Office Realty Trust had a negative return on equity of 4.82% and a negative net margin of 13.86%. The firm had revenue of $143.23 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $142.16 million. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Piedmont Office Realty Trust will post 1.41 EPS for the current year.

Piedmont Office Realty Trust Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 21st were given a dividend of $0.125 per share. This represents a $0.50 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.89%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 21st. Piedmont Office Realty Trust’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently -79.37%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Piedmont Office Realty Trust

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC increased its position in shares of Piedmont Office Realty Trust by 4.2% during the 4th quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 36,489 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $334,000 after purchasing an additional 1,479 shares during the period. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH acquired a new position in shares of Piedmont Office Realty Trust during the 4th quarter valued at $1,357,000. Mackenzie Financial Corp increased its position in shares of Piedmont Office Realty Trust by 178.3% during the 4th quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 65,924 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $603,000 after purchasing an additional 42,239 shares during the period. Two Sigma Advisers LP grew its holdings in shares of Piedmont Office Realty Trust by 16.8% in the 4th quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 949,300 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $8,686,000 after acquiring an additional 136,300 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Two Sigma Investments LP grew its holdings in shares of Piedmont Office Realty Trust by 11.9% in the 4th quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 757,469 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $6,931,000 after acquiring an additional 80,648 shares during the last quarter. 84.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have commented on PDM. 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 cut their price target on Piedmont Office Realty Trust from $10.00 to $9.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 24th. Truist Financial reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $10.00 price target (down previously from $11.00) on shares of Piedmont Office Realty Trust in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Finally, StockNews.com raised Piedmont Office Realty Trust from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, February 17th.

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.