M&T Bank Corp Makes New Investment in First Industrial Realty Trust, Inc. $FR

M&T Bank Corp bought a new stake in First Industrial Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:FR) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 19,803 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock, valued at approximately $1,134,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of FR. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its position in shares of First Industrial Realty Trust by 41.1% in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 839,536 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $45,301,000 after buying an additional 244,562 shares during the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP raised its position in shares of First Industrial Realty Trust by 141.1% in the second quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 86,866 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $4,181,000 after buying an additional 50,839 shares during the last quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. raised its position in shares of First Industrial Realty Trust by 4.4% in the second quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 55,781 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $2,685,000 after buying an additional 2,356 shares during the last quarter. Cresset Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of First Industrial Realty Trust in the second quarter valued at about $275,000. Finally, Cerity Partners LLC raised its position in shares of First Industrial Realty Trust by 463.4% in the second quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 63,013 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $3,033,000 after buying an additional 51,828 shares during the last quarter. 99.85% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of First Industrial Realty Trust from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research report on Monday, April 27th. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $65.00 target price on shares of First Industrial Realty Trust in a research report on Monday, April 27th. Scotiabank increased their target price on shares of First Industrial Realty Trust from $62.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Monday, March 2nd. Barclays reiterated a “positive” rating and issued a $64.00 target price on shares of First Industrial Realty Trust in a research report on Tuesday, January 13th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of First Industrial Realty Trust from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, April 11th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $63.57.

First Industrial Realty Trust Price Performance

First Industrial Realty Trust stock opened at $62.77 on Friday. First Industrial Realty Trust, Inc. has a 12-month low of $47.36 and a 12-month high of $64.66. The stock has a market cap of $8.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.33 and a beta of 1.07. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $60.75 and a 200 day moving average price of $58.79. The company has a current ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 1.04 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.90.

First Industrial Realty Trust (NYSE:FR) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 4th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.59 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.76 by ($0.17). First Industrial Realty Trust had a return on equity of 12.36% and a net margin of 45.98%.The firm had revenue of $188.41 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $186.20 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.71 earnings per share. First Industrial Realty Trust’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.3% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that First Industrial Realty Trust, Inc. will post 3.15 earnings per share for the current year.

First Industrial Realty Trust Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, July 20th. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 30th will be given a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.2%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, June 30th. First Industrial Realty Trust’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 77.52%.

About First Industrial Realty Trust

First Industrial Realty Trust, Inc (NYSE: FR) is a publicly traded real estate investment trust focused on the ownership, operation and development of industrial real estate assets. The company specializes in light industrial, warehouse and distribution facilities that serve a broad range of end markets, including manufacturing, transportation and e-commerce. Through both acquisitions and ground-up developments, First Industrial seeks to assemble a diversified portfolio of strategically located properties that support its tenants’ supply-chain needs.

Core services provided by First Industrial include property leasing, asset management, redevelopment of obsolescent buildings and build-to-suit development for creditworthy users.