Piedmont Office Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:PDM) Sees Large Drop in Short Interest

Piedmont Office Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:PDM) was the target of a large decline in short interest in April. As of April 30th, there was short interest totalling 2,690,000 shares, a decline of 15.9% from the April 15th total of 3,200,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 840,800 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 3.2 days. Currently, 2.2% of the shares of the stock are short sold.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in PDM. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Piedmont Office Realty Trust by 261.1% in the 3rd quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. now owns 114,674 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $644,000 after purchasing an additional 82,915 shares during the period. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank lifted its position in Piedmont Office Realty Trust by 19.3% in the 3rd quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 50,879 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $286,000 after buying an additional 8,216 shares in the last quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp acquired a new stake in shares of Piedmont Office Realty Trust during the 3rd quarter valued at $74,000. Private Management Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Piedmont Office Realty Trust by 25.7% during the 3rd quarter. Private Management Group Inc. now owns 4,468,246 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $25,112,000 after acquiring an additional 913,747 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GraniteShares Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Piedmont Office Realty Trust by 5.3% during the third quarter. GraniteShares Advisors LLC now owns 163,799 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $921,000 after acquiring an additional 8,205 shares in the last quarter. 84.48% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, StockNews.com lowered shares of Piedmont Office Realty Trust from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 22nd.

Piedmont Office Realty Trust Trading Up 1.7 %

Shares of NYSE PDM traded up $0.12 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $7.12. The company had a trading volume of 139,696 shares, compared to its average volume of 850,296. Piedmont Office Realty Trust has a 1-year low of $4.91 and a 1-year high of $8.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.23, a quick ratio of 1.90 and a current ratio of 1.90. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $6.65 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $6.62.

Piedmont Office Realty Trust Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, June 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 24th will be issued a $0.125 dividend. This represents a $0.50 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 7.02%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 23rd. Piedmont Office Realty Trust’s payout ratio is -81.97%.

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.