Piedmont Office Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:PDM) Short Interest Up 55.1% in May

Piedmont Office Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:PDM - Get Free Report) was the target of a large increase in short interest in the month of May. As of May 31st, there was short interest totalling 2,730,000 shares, an increase of 55.1% from the May 15th total of 1,760,000 shares. Approximately 2.2% of the company's shares are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 1,140,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.4 days.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Truist Financial decreased their price target on shares of Piedmont Office Realty Trust from $10.00 to $9.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, May 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on shares of Piedmont Office Realty Trust from $9.00 to $8.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Friday. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Piedmont Office Realty Trust from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, February 17th. Finally, Robert W. Baird cut their price objective on shares of Piedmont Office Realty Trust from $10.00 to $9.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, February 24th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Piedmont Office Realty Trust currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $8.67.

Piedmont Office Realty Trust Trading Down 3.6%

PDM stock traded down $0.28 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $7.51. 905,877 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 913,392. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.40, a quick ratio of 2.22 and a current ratio of 2.10. Piedmont Office Realty Trust has a one year low of $5.46 and a one year high of $11.12. The stock has a market capitalization of $934.30 million, a PE ratio of -11.92 and a beta of 1.44. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $6.80 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $7.69.

Piedmont Office Realty Trust (NYSE:PDM - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Monday, April 28th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.36 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.35 by $0.01. Piedmont Office Realty Trust had a negative net margin of 13.86% and a negative return on equity of 4.82%. The firm had revenue of $136.06 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $141.29 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.39 earnings per share. The business's revenue was down 1.3% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that Piedmont Office Realty Trust will post 1.41 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Piedmont Office Realty Trust

In other Piedmont Office Realty Trust news, CFO Sherry L. Rexroad purchased 16,850 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 1st. The stock was bought at an average cost of $5.95 per share, for a total transaction of $100,257.50. Following the purchase, the chief financial officer now directly owns 16,850 shares in the company, valued at $100,257.50. The trade was a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 1.29% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Piedmont Office Realty Trust

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Jump Financial LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Piedmont Office Realty Trust in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $663,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Piedmont Office Realty Trust during the 4th quarter valued at about $1,313,000. BROOKFIELD Corp ON boosted its position in shares of Piedmont Office Realty Trust by 46.5% during the 4th quarter. BROOKFIELD Corp ON now owns 1,033,232 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $9,454,000 after acquiring an additional 327,982 shares during the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG lifted its position in Piedmont Office Realty Trust by 23.7% in the fourth quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 242,358 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $2,218,000 after buying an additional 46,399 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its position in Piedmont Office Realty Trust by 6.1% in the fourth quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 818,947 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $7,497,000 after buying an additional 47,110 shares during the last quarter. 84.48% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other 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.

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