Piedmont Office Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:PDM) Short Interest Down 29.5% in February

Piedmont Office Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:PDM) saw a large decline in short interest in 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. Based on an average daily volume of 775,300 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.5 days. Currently, 1.6% of the company’s shares are short sold.

Piedmont Office Realty Trust Stock Up 2.4 %

Shares of NYSE:PDM traded up $0.16 during trading on Friday, reaching $7.13. 776,223 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 759,042. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $8.02 and a two-hundred day moving average of $9.12. Piedmont Office Realty Trust has a 1-year low of $6.13 and a 1-year high of $11.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40, a current ratio of 2.10 and a quick ratio of 2.22. The firm has a market cap of $886.70 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -11.32 and a beta of 1.25.

Piedmont Office Realty Trust (NYSE:PDM) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.37 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $142.16 million. Research analysts anticipate that Piedmont Office Realty Trust will post 1.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Piedmont Office Realty Trust Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Investors of record on Friday, February 21st were given a dividend of $0.125 per share. This represents a $0.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 7.01%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 21st. Piedmont Office Realty Trust’s payout ratio is currently -79.37%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Piedmont Office Realty Trust

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Sterling Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Piedmont Office Realty Trust by 809.2% during the fourth quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 3,955 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 3,520 shares during the last quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC increased its holdings in shares of Piedmont Office Realty Trust by 51.3% in the third quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 4,916 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $50,000 after purchasing an additional 1,666 shares during the period. Harbour Investments Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Piedmont Office Realty Trust by 25.4% in the 4th quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. now owns 6,004 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $55,000 after acquiring an additional 1,216 shares in the last quarter. Point72 Hong Kong Ltd purchased a new stake in Piedmont Office Realty Trust in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $59,000. Finally, Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Piedmont Office Realty Trust during the 4th quarter valued at $76,000. 84.48% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.