Financial Comparison: Piedmont Realty Trust (NYSE:PDM) and First Industrial Realty Trust (NYSE:FR)

First Industrial Realty Trust (NYSE:FR) and Piedmont Realty Trust (NYSE:PDM) are both finance companies, but which is the superior business? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, risk, earnings, dividends, institutional ownership, valuation and profitability.

Insider and Institutional Ownership

99.8% of First Industrial Realty Trust shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 84.5% of Piedmont Realty Trust shares are owned by institutional investors. 1.1% of First Industrial Realty Trust shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 1.2% of Piedmont Realty Trust shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Analyst Ratings

This is a summary of recent recommendations for First Industrial Realty Trust and Piedmont Realty Trust, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
First Industrial Realty Trust	0	5	8	0	2.62
Piedmont Realty Trust	1	1	1	0	2.00

First Industrial Realty Trust presently has a consensus target price of $63.29, suggesting a potential upside of 3.17%. Piedmont Realty Trust has a consensus target price of $9.00, suggesting a potential upside of 10.77%. Given Piedmont Realty Trust’s higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Piedmont Realty Trust is more favorable than First Industrial Realty Trust.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares First Industrial Realty Trust and Piedmont Realty Trust”s revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
First Industrial Realty Trust	$744.83 million	10.92	$247.44 million	$2.58	23.78
Piedmont Realty Trust	$564.99 million	1.80	-$83.62 million	($0.68)	-11.95

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

Profitability

This table compares First Industrial Realty Trust and Piedmont Realty Trust’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
First Industrial Realty Trust	45.98%	12.36%	6.11%
Piedmont Realty Trust	-14.80%	-5.44%	-2.09%

Dividends

First Industrial Realty Trust pays an annual dividend of $2.00 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.3%. Piedmont Realty Trust pays an annual dividend of $0.50 per share and has a dividend yield of 6.2%. First Industrial Realty Trust pays out 77.5% 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 -73.5% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. First Industrial Realty Trust has raised its dividend for 12 consecutive years and 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 lower payout ratio.

Volatility & Risk

First Industrial Realty Trust has a beta of 1.11, meaning that its share price is 11% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Piedmont Realty Trust has a beta of 1.29, meaning that its share price is 29% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

First Industrial Realty Trust beats Piedmont Realty Trust on 12 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.

About First Industrial Realty Trust

First Industrial Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE: FR) is a leading U.S.-only owner, operator, developer and acquirer of logistics properties. Through our fully integrated operating and investing platform, we provide high quality facilities and industry-leading customer service to multinational corporations and regional firms that are essential for their supply chains. Our portfolio and new investments are concentrated in 15 target MSAs with an emphasis on supply-constrained, coastally oriented markets. In total, we own and have under development approximately 68.5 million square feet of industrial space as of December 31, 2023.

About Piedmont Realty Trust

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. The Company was designated an Energy Star Partner of the Year for 2021, 2022 and 2023, and it was the only office REIT headquartered in the Southeast to receive those designations. Approximately 85% of the Company's square footage is Energy Star certified and nearly 70% is LEED certified. Piedmont is headquartered in Atlanta, GA.