Piedmont Realty Trust (NYSE:PDM) Upgraded at Freedom Broker

Freedom Broker upgraded shares of Piedmont Realty Trust (NYSE:PDM) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The firm currently has $11.00 target price on the real estate investment trust’s stock.

Other equities research analysts have also issued reports about the stock. Zacks Research raised shares of Piedmont Realty Trust from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Piedmont Realty Trust from $10.00 to $11.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 9th. Weiss Ratings cut Piedmont Realty Trust from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “sell (d-)” rating in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Finally, Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on Piedmont Realty Trust from $9.00 to $10.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, August 14th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, two have issued a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $10.75.

Piedmont Realty Trust Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:PDM opened at $9.60 on Wednesday. Piedmont Realty Trust has a twelve month low of $6.32 and a twelve month high of $10.13. The company’s 50 day moving average is $9.34 and its 200 day moving average is $8.61. The company has a current ratio of 1.40, a quick ratio of 1.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.62. The company has a market cap of $1.19 billion, a PE ratio of -13.52 and a beta of 1.39.

Piedmont Realty Trust (NYSE:PDM) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, October 26th. The real estate investment trust reported ($0.17) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.06) by ($0.11). The business had revenue of $151.24 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $146.80 million. Piedmont Realty Trust had a negative return on equity of 5.98% and a negative net margin of 15.18%. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Piedmont Realty Trust will post 1.55 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Sherry Rexroad sold 4,446 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $8.81, for a total transaction of $39,169.26. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 53,857 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $474,480.17. This represents a 7.63% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. 1.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Piedmont Realty Trust

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Donald Smith & CO. Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Piedmont Realty Trust in the second quarter worth approximately $17,788,000. Wilsey Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in Piedmont Realty Trust by 15.4% in the 1st quarter. Wilsey Asset Management Inc. now owns 4,892,550 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $32,144,000 after purchasing an additional 651,648 shares during the last quarter. Punch & Associates Investment Management Inc. acquired a new position in Piedmont Realty Trust in the 1st quarter valued at $3,614,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new position in Piedmont Realty Trust in the 2nd quarter valued at $4,975,000. Finally, Bessemer Group Inc. raised its stake in Piedmont Realty Trust by 63,822.3% in the 1st quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 474,943 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $3,120,000 after purchasing an additional 474,200 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 84.48% of the company’s stock.

Piedmont Realty Trust Company Profile

Piedmont Realty Trust, formally known as Piedmont Office Realty Trust, Inc (NYSE: PDM), is a self-managed real estate investment trust that owns, develops, acquires, leases and manages office properties in the United States. The company primarily focuses on high-quality office buildings serving corporate tenants and other organizations.

Piedmont’s portfolio has historically been concentrated in major office markets across the Sun Belt and eastern United States, including Atlanta, Boston, Dallas, Washington, DC, and other metropolitan areas.