Federal Realty Investment Trust (NYSE:FRT) Sees Significant Growth in Short Interest

Federal Realty Investment Trust (NYSE:FRT - Get Free Report) saw a significant increase in short interest in the month of May. As of May 15th, there was short interest totalling 2,630,000 shares, an increase of 16.9% from the April 30th total of 2,250,000 shares. Approximately 3.1% of the company's shares are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 843,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 3.1 days.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Federal Realty Investment Trust

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of FRT. FIL Ltd increased its stake in Federal Realty Investment Trust by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 35,591 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $3,984,000 after purchasing an additional 95 shares during the period. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund raised its stake in shares of Federal Realty Investment Trust by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 6,554 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $734,000 after purchasing an additional 110 shares during the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC increased its position in Federal Realty Investment Trust by 25.0% during the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 555 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $62,000 after acquiring an additional 111 shares during the last quarter. Keybank National Association OH increased its position in Federal Realty Investment Trust by 5.1% in the fourth quarter. Keybank National Association OH now owns 2,616 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $293,000 after buying an additional 128 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its stake in Federal Realty Investment Trust by 82.3% during the first quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 288 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 130 shares during the last quarter. 93.86% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently commented on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on shares of Federal Realty Investment Trust from $114.00 to $108.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 22nd. Raymond James decreased their price target on shares of Federal Realty Investment Trust from $117.00 to $110.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 23rd. Mizuho reduced their price objective on shares of Federal Realty Investment Trust from $119.00 to $107.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. Truist Financial downgraded shares of Federal Realty Investment Trust from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $114.00 to $105.00 in a report on Thursday, March 13th. Finally, Piper Sandler lowered their price objective on shares of Federal Realty Investment Trust from $135.00 to $120.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 23rd. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $113.33.

Federal Realty Investment Trust Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:FRT traded down $0.78 on Thursday, hitting $94.36. The company's stock had a trading volume of 461,467 shares, compared to its average volume of 691,905. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $93.82 and a 200 day simple moving average of $102.67. Federal Realty Investment Trust has a 1 year low of $80.65 and a 1 year high of $118.34. The company has a market capitalization of $8.09 billion, a PE ratio of 27.51, a PEG ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.45, a current ratio of 1.97 and a quick ratio of 1.97.

Federal Realty Investment Trust (NYSE:FRT - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.70 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.69 by $0.01. Federal Realty Investment Trust had a return on equity of 9.89% and a net margin of 24.38%. The firm had revenue of $302.29 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $307.55 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.64 EPS. The company's revenue was up 6.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that Federal Realty Investment Trust will post 7.15 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Federal Realty Investment Trust Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, July 1st will be issued a dividend of $1.10 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, July 1st. This represents a $4.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.66%. Federal Realty Investment Trust's dividend payout ratio is 126.07%.

About Federal Realty Investment Trust

Federal Realty Investment Trust is an equity real estate investment trust, which engages in the provision of ownership, management, and redevelopment of retail and mixed-use properties located primarily in communities where demand exceeds supply in strategically selected metropolitan markets. The company was founded in 1962 and is headquartered in North Bethesda, MD.

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