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

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

Piedmont Office Realty Trust Stock Performance

NYSE PDM traded up $0.19 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $7.33. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 697,690 shares, compared to its average volume of 758,797. 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 business has a 50-day simple moving average of $7.99 and a 200 day simple moving average of $9.10. Piedmont Office Realty Trust has a 52 week low of $6.13 and a 52 week high of $11.12. The stock has a market cap of $910.81 million, a PE ratio of -11.63 and a beta of 1.25.

Piedmont Office Realty Trust (NYSE:PDM) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.37 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.37. Piedmont Office Realty Trust had a negative net margin of 13.86% and a negative return on equity of 4.82%. The business had revenue of $143.23 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $142.16 million. Equities research analysts predict that Piedmont Office Realty Trust will post 1.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Piedmont Office Realty Trust Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Investors of record on Friday, February 21st were paid a dividend of $0.125 per share. This represents a $0.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.82%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 21st. Piedmont Office Realty Trust’s dividend payout ratio is currently -79.37%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the company. Truist Financial reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $10.00 target price (down from $11.00) on shares of Piedmont Office Realty Trust in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Baird R W lowered Piedmont Office Realty Trust from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. StockNews.com raised Piedmont Office Realty Trust from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, February 17th. Finally, Robert W. Baird decreased their price objective on shares of Piedmont Office Realty Trust from $10.00 to $9.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 24th.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Piedmont Office Realty Trust

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Sterling Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Piedmont Office Realty Trust by 809.2% in the fourth quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 3,955 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 3,520 shares during the period. TD Private Client Wealth LLC lifted its holdings in 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 last quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. boosted its position in shares of Piedmont Office Realty Trust by 25.4% during 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 in the last quarter. Point72 Hong Kong Ltd bought a new position in shares of Piedmont Office Realty Trust during the 4th quarter valued at about $59,000. Finally, Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Piedmont Office Realty Trust in the 4th quarter worth approximately $76,000. Institutional investors own 84.48% of the company’s stock.

Piedmont Office Realty Trust Company Profile

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.