Piedmont Office Realty Trust (NYSE:PDM) Shares Down 6.5% – Here’s Why

Piedmont Office Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:PDM)’s share price was down 6.5% during trading on Friday . The stock traded as low as $7.29 and last traded at $7.44. Approximately 293,773 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 51% from the average daily volume of 602,315 shares. The stock had previously closed at $7.96.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently weighed in on PDM shares. Robert W. Baird lowered Piedmont Office Realty Trust from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $11.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Piedmont Office Realty Trust from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Monday, January 20th. Finally, Baird R W downgraded Piedmont Office Realty Trust from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th.

Piedmont Office Realty Trust Price Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 2.22, a current ratio of 2.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.36. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $8.74 and its 200-day moving average is $9.34.

Piedmont Office Realty Trust (NYSE:PDM) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.37. Piedmont Office Realty Trust had a negative return on equity of 4.61% and a negative net margin of 13.47%. The company had revenue of $143.23 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $142.16 million. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Piedmont Office Realty Trust, Inc. will post 1.49 EPS for the current year.

Piedmont Office Realty Trust Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 21st will be paid a $0.125 dividend. This represents a $0.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.86%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 21st. Piedmont Office Realty Trust’s payout ratio is -80.64%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of PDM. Sterling Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Piedmont Office Realty Trust by 809.2% during the 4th quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 3,955 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 3,520 shares during the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Piedmont Office Realty Trust by 34.8% in the third quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 4,809 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $48,000 after purchasing an additional 1,241 shares during the period. TD Private Client Wealth LLC lifted its position in shares of Piedmont Office Realty Trust by 51.3% during the 3rd 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 last quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. boosted its stake in 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 during the period. Finally, Xponance Inc. acquired a new stake in Piedmont Office Realty Trust in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $95,000. 84.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.