Piedmont Office Realty Trust (NYSE:PDM) Stock Price Down 6.5% – Should You Sell?

Piedmont Office Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:PDM)’s stock price dropped 6.5% during mid-day trading on Friday . The stock traded as low as $7.29 and last traded at $7.44. Approximately 293,773 shares changed hands during 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

PDM has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Robert W. Baird lowered Piedmont Office Realty Trust from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $11.00 target price for the company. in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Baird R W lowered Piedmont Office Realty Trust from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Piedmont Office Realty Trust from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Monday, January 20th.

Piedmont Office Realty Trust Trading Down 6.0 %

The firm has a market capitalization of $928.14 million, a PE ratio of -12.06 and a beta of 1.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.36, a current ratio of 2.22 and a quick ratio of 2.22. The company has a fifty day moving average of $8.78 and a 200-day moving average of $9.35.

Piedmont Office Realty Trust (NYSE:PDM) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.37 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.37. Piedmont Office Realty Trust had a negative return on equity of 4.61% and a negative net margin of 13.47%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Piedmont Office Realty Trust, Inc. will post 1.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Piedmont Office Realty Trust Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, March 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 21st will be given a $0.125 dividend. This represents a $0.50 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.68%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 21st. Piedmont Office Realty Trust’s dividend payout ratio is -79.37%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Piedmont Office Realty Trust

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of PDM. Sterling Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Piedmont Office Realty Trust by 809.2% in 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. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in Piedmont Office Realty Trust by 34.8% in the 3rd 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 last quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC boosted its position in Piedmont Office Realty Trust by 51.3% during 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. grew its holdings in Piedmont Office Realty Trust by 25.4% during the fourth 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 last quarter. Finally, Xponance Inc. bought a new position in shares of Piedmont Office Realty Trust in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $95,000. 84.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.