Piedmont Realty Trust (PDM) and The Competition Critical Contrast

Piedmont Realty Trust (NYSE:PDM) is one of 59 publicly-traded companies in the “Office REITs” industry, but how does it weigh in compared to its peers? We will compare Piedmont Realty Trust to similar companies based on the strength of its valuation, profitability, dividends, analyst recommendations, earnings, institutional ownership and risk.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

84.5% of Piedmont Realty Trust shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 61.1% of shares of all “Office REITs” companies are owned by institutional investors. 1.2% of Piedmont Realty Trust shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 8.9% of shares of all “Office REITs” companies are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Piedmont Realty Trust and its peers top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Net Income	Price/Earnings Ratio
Piedmont Realty Trust	$564.99 million	-$83.62 million	-14.02
Piedmont Realty Trust Competitors	$530.46 million	-$49.56 million	15.00

Piedmont Realty Trust has higher revenue, but lower earnings than its peers. Piedmont Realty Trust is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than its peers, indicating that it is currently more affordable than other companies in its industry.

Profitability

This table compares Piedmont Realty Trust and its peers’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Piedmont Realty Trust	-15.18%	-5.98%	-2.18%
Piedmont Realty Trust Competitors	-17.72%	-7.46%	-0.23%

Volatility & Risk

Piedmont Realty Trust has a beta of 1.41, indicating that its share price is 41% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Piedmont Realty Trust’s peers have a beta of 1.02, indicating that their average share price is 2% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Ratings

This is a breakdown of current recommendations for Piedmont Realty Trust and its peers, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Piedmont Realty Trust	1	2	2	1	2.50
Piedmont Realty Trust Competitors	946	2834	2691	25	2.28

Piedmont Realty Trust currently has a consensus target price of $10.75, indicating a potential upside of 7.99%. As a group, “Office REITs” companies have a potential upside of 2.05%. Given Piedmont Realty Trust’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, research analysts clearly believe Piedmont Realty Trust is more favorable than its peers.

Summary

Piedmont Realty Trust beats its peers on 8 of the 13 factors compared.

Piedmont Realty Trust Company Profile

Piedmont Realty Trust is a publicly traded real estate investment trust that owns, manages and leases office properties in the United States. Its portfolio is focused on high-quality office buildings, with related services that include property operations, tenant support and leasing. The company concentrates its portfolio in select markets, including Atlanta, Dallas, Orlando and Minneapolis. Piedmont Realty Trust is headquartered in Atlanta and is led by President and Chief Executive Officer Brent Smith.