Piedmont Office Realty Trust (NYSE:PDM) Stock Rating Upgraded by StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Piedmont Office Realty Trust (NYSE:PDM) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research note issued to investors on Saturday.

Piedmont Office Realty Trust Price Performance

NYSE:PDM opened at $7.25 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.23, a quick ratio of 1.90 and a current ratio of 1.90. The firm has a market cap of $898.21 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -11.89 and a beta of 1.19. Piedmont Office Realty Trust has a 52 week low of $4.91 and a 52 week high of $8.05. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $7.07 and its 200 day simple moving average is $6.87.

Piedmont Office Realty Trust (NYSE:PDM) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The real estate investment trust reported ($0.22) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.39 by ($0.61). Piedmont Office Realty Trust had a negative return on equity of 4.29% and a negative net margin of 12.90%. The business had revenue of $144.54 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $143.41 million. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Piedmont Office Realty Trust will post 1.5 earnings per share for the current year.

Piedmont Office Realty Trust Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, June 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 24th were given a dividend of $0.125 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, May 23rd. This represents a $0.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.90%. Piedmont Office Realty Trust’s payout ratio is -81.97%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Sigma Planning Corp bought a new stake in Piedmont Office Realty Trust during the fourth quarter worth about $71,000. Adero Partners LLC bought a new position in Piedmont Office Realty Trust in the 4th quarter valued at about $72,000. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. acquired a new position in shares of Piedmont Office Realty Trust in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $73,000. Bayesian Capital Management LP bought a new stake in shares of Piedmont Office Realty Trust during the 1st quarter worth approximately $81,000. Finally, Scharf Investments LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Piedmont Office Realty Trust during the 4th quarter worth approximately $94,000. Institutional investors 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.