Piedmont Office Realty Trust (NYSE:PDM) Sets New 12-Month High at $8.67

Piedmont Office Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:PDM) shares reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $8.67 and last traded at $8.63, with a volume of 360771 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $8.32.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, StockNews.com upgraded Piedmont Office Realty Trust from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday.

Piedmont Office Realty Trust Trading Up 4.5 %

The firm has a 50-day moving average of $7.42 and a 200-day moving average of $6.97. 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 capitalization of $1.08 billion, a P/E ratio of -14.33 and a beta of 1.21.

Piedmont Office Realty Trust (NYSE:PDM) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 30th. The real estate investment trust reported ($0.22) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.39 by ($0.61). The company had revenue of $144.54 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $143.41 million. Piedmont Office Realty Trust had a negative return on equity of 4.29% and a negative net margin of 12.90%. On average, equities research 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 disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, September 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 23rd will be given a $0.125 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 23rd. This represents a $0.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.72%. Piedmont Office Realty Trust’s dividend payout ratio is currently -81.97%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Piedmont Office Realty Trust

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its stake 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 valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 1,288 shares during the period. Bfsg LLC lifted its stake in shares of Piedmont Office Realty Trust by 5.6% in the 4th quarter. Bfsg LLC now owns 32,110 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $228,000 after purchasing an additional 1,690 shares during the period. ProShare Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Piedmont Office Realty Trust by 8.5% in the 1st quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 22,203 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $156,000 after purchasing an additional 1,748 shares during the period. Allworth Financial LP lifted its stake in shares of Piedmont Office Realty Trust by 13.3% in the 4th quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 15,992 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $114,000 after purchasing an additional 1,880 shares during the period. Finally, Camelot Portfolios LLC lifted its stake in shares of Piedmont Office Realty Trust by 4.0% in the 4th quarter. Camelot Portfolios LLC now owns 52,500 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $373,000 after purchasing an additional 2,000 shares during the period. 84.48% of the stock is currently 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.