Federal Realty Investment Trust (NYSE:FRT) Lifted to Buy at Citigroup

Federal Realty Investment Trust (NYSE:FRT) was upgraded by research analysts at Citigroup from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Friday, Briefing.com reports. The firm presently has a $135.00 price objective on the real estate investment trust’s stock, up from their previous price objective of $120.00. Citigroup’s price objective suggests a potential upside of 16.18% from the company’s previous close.

Several other equities analysts also recently commented on FRT. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Federal Realty Investment Trust from $112.00 to $121.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, August 8th. Piper Sandler boosted their target price on shares of Federal Realty Investment Trust from $122.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Evercore ISI upped their price target on shares of Federal Realty Investment Trust from $119.00 to $120.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 28th. Truist Financial upped their price target on shares of Federal Realty Investment Trust from $115.00 to $121.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 28th. Finally, Scotiabank upped their price target on shares of Federal Realty Investment Trust from $112.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, August 26th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $122.62.

Federal Realty Investment Trust Price Performance

FRT stock opened at $116.20 on Friday. Federal Realty Investment Trust has a one year low of $85.59 and a one year high of $117.65. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $111.18 and its 200-day moving average price is $104.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.57, a quick ratio of 1.74 and a current ratio of 1.74. The company has a market capitalization of $9.64 billion, a PE ratio of 41.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 1.24.

Federal Realty Investment Trust (NYSE:FRT) last released its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The real estate investment trust reported $1.32 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.68 by ($0.36). Federal Realty Investment Trust had a return on equity of 10.07% and a net margin of 24.69%. The company had revenue of $295.80 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $293.61 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.67 EPS. Federal Realty Investment Trust’s quarterly revenue was up 5.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Federal Realty Investment Trust will post 6.81 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Donald C. Wood sold 30,292 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $116.17, for a total value of $3,519,021.64. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 6,637 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $771,020.29. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, CEO Donald C. Wood sold 5,937 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $116.47, for a total value of $691,482.39. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Donald C. Wood sold 30,292 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $116.17, for a total transaction of $3,519,021.64. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 6,637 shares in the company, valued at $771,020.29. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Norges Bank bought a new position in Federal Realty Investment Trust during the 4th quarter worth about $743,378,000. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. grew its holdings in Federal Realty Investment Trust by 571.1% during the 2nd quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. now owns 642,446 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $64,868,000 after acquiring an additional 546,711 shares in the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC grew its holdings in Federal Realty Investment Trust by 304.0% during the 2nd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 415,603 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $41,963,000 after acquiring an additional 312,726 shares in the last quarter. Heitman Real Estate Securities LLC grew its holdings in Federal Realty Investment Trust by 1,553.3% during the 4th quarter. Heitman Real Estate Securities LLC now owns 207,700 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $21,403,000 after acquiring an additional 195,137 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Federal Realty Investment Trust by 1.5% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 12,731,109 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,300,101,000 after acquiring an additional 193,740 shares in the last quarter. 93.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Federal Realty Investment Trust Company Profile

Federal Realty is a recognized leader in the ownership, operation and redevelopment of high-quality retail-based properties located primarily in major coastal markets from Washington, DC to Boston as well as San Francisco and Los Angeles. Founded in 1962, Federal Realty's mission is to deliver long-term, sustainable growth through investing in communities where retail demand exceeds supply.