Piedmont Realty Trust (PDM) Competitors

Highwoods Properties (NYSE:HIW) and Piedmont Realty Trust (NYSE:PDM) are both finance companies, but which is the better investment? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their risk, analyst recommendations, profitability, dividends, institutional ownership, earnings, media sentiment and valuation.

Which has stronger earnings & valuation, HIW or PDM?

Highwoods Properties has higher revenue and earnings than Piedmont Realty Trust. Piedmont Realty Trust is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Highwoods Properties, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Company	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Highwoods Properties	$825.86M	4.09	$102.25M	$1.61	19.47
Piedmont Realty Trust	$570.32M	1.64	-$79.06M	-$0.49	-15.39

Which has more volatility and risk, HIW or PDM?

Highwoods Properties has a beta of 1.21, suggesting that its share price is 21% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Piedmont Realty Trust has a beta of 1.43, suggesting that its share price is 43% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Do institutionals and insiders hold more shares of HIW or PDM?

96.3% of Highwoods Properties shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 84.5% of Piedmont Realty Trust shares are owned by institutional investors. 1.9% of Highwoods Properties shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 1.3% of Piedmont Realty Trust shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a stock is poised for long-term growth.

Is HIW or PDM more profitable?

Highwoods Properties has a net margin of 21.53% compared to Piedmont Realty Trust's net margin of -10.80%. Highwoods Properties' return on equity of 7.43% beat Piedmont Realty Trust's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Highwoods Properties	21.53%	7.43%	2.91%
Piedmont Realty Trust	-10.80%	-3.82%	-1.50%

Does the media favor HIW or PDM?

In the previous week, Highwoods Properties had 6 more articles in the media than Piedmont Realty Trust. MarketBeat recorded 6 mentions for Highwoods Properties and 0 mentions for Piedmont Realty Trust. Highwoods Properties' average media sentiment score of 0.05 beat Piedmont Realty Trust's score of 0.00 indicating that Highwoods Properties is being referred to more favorably in the media.

Company	Overall Sentiment
Highwoods Properties	Neutral
Piedmont Realty Trust	Neutral

Do analysts prefer HIW or PDM?

Highwoods Properties currently has a consensus price target of $31.83, indicating a potential upside of 1.54%. Piedmont Realty Trust has a consensus price target of $8.67, indicating a potential upside of 14.94%. Given Piedmont Realty Trust's stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Piedmont Realty Trust is more favorable than Highwoods Properties.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Highwoods Properties	0 Sell rating(s)	5 Hold rating(s)	1 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.17
Piedmont Realty Trust	0 Sell rating(s)	3 Hold rating(s)	1 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.25

Is HIW or PDM a better dividend stock?

Highwoods Properties pays an annual dividend of $2.00 per share and has a dividend yield of 6.4%. Piedmont Realty Trust pays an annual dividend of $0.50 per share and has a dividend yield of 6.6%. Highwoods Properties pays out 124.2% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Piedmont Realty Trust pays out -102.0% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Piedmont Realty Trust has raised its dividend for 1 consecutive years. Piedmont Realty Trust is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Summary

Highwoods Properties beats Piedmont Realty Trust on 12 of the 18 factors compared between the two stocks.