Piedmont Office Realty Trust (NYSE:PDM) Hits New 52-Week High – Should You Buy?

Shares of Piedmont Office Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:PDM) hit a new 52-week high on Monday . The company traded as high as $10.28 and last traded at $10.26, with a volume of 449757 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $9.93.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Truist Financial reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $11.00 price objective (up previously from $10.00) on shares of Piedmont Office Realty Trust in a research report on Wednesday, August 14th. StockNews.com raised Piedmont Office Realty Trust from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd.

Piedmont Office Realty Trust Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.34, a quick ratio of 2.40 and a current ratio of 2.40. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $9.50 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $8.05. The stock has a market cap of $1.27 billion, a PE ratio of -16.54 and a beta of 1.22.

Piedmont Office Realty Trust (NYSE:PDM) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The real estate investment trust reported ($0.08) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.37 by ($0.45). Piedmont Office Realty Trust had a negative net margin of 14.24% and a negative return on equity of 4.84%. The firm had revenue of $143.26 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $141.25 million. Equities analysts anticipate that Piedmont Office Realty Trust, Inc. will post 1.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Piedmont Office Realty Trust Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 23rd were given a dividend of $0.125 per share. This represents a $0.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.87%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 23rd. Piedmont Office Realty Trust’s payout ratio is -81.97%.

Institutional Trading of Piedmont Office Realty Trust

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in PDM. Blue Trust Inc. grew its position in shares of Piedmont Office Realty Trust by 38.3% in the 2nd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 4,654 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 1,288 shares in the last quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. acquired a new position in Piedmont Office Realty Trust in the first quarter worth $73,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. bought a new stake in Piedmont Office Realty Trust during the second quarter valued at $76,000. Bayesian Capital Management LP acquired a new stake in shares of Piedmont Office Realty Trust during the first quarter worth $81,000. Finally, Sei Investments Co. acquired a new stake in shares of Piedmont Office Realty Trust during the second quarter worth $85,000. 84.48% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.