Short Interest in Federal Realty Investment Trust (NYSE:FRT) Rises By 22.6%

Federal Realty Investment Trust (NYSE:FRT) was the target of a significant growth in short interest in September. As of September 15th, there was short interest totalling 2,060,000 shares, a growth of 22.6% from the August 31st total of 1,680,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 655,200 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 3.1 days.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Donald C. Wood sold 5,937 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $116.47, for a total value of $691,482.39. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, CEO Donald C. Wood sold 5,937 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $116.47, for a total transaction of $691,482.39. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Donald C. Wood sold 30,292 shares of Federal Realty Investment Trust stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $116.17, for a total value of $3,519,021.64. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 6,637 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $771,020.29. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 1.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Federal Realty Investment Trust

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of FRT. Family Firm Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Federal Realty Investment Trust during the second quarter valued at $33,000. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its holdings in Federal Realty Investment Trust by 885.7% in the 2nd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 345 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 310 shares in the last quarter. Rothschild Investment LLC bought a new position in shares of Federal Realty Investment Trust during the 2nd quarter valued at about $42,000. Quarry LP bought a new stake in Federal Realty Investment Trust in the fourth quarter worth $50,000. Finally, Richardson Financial Services Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Federal Realty Investment Trust in the 4th quarter worth approximately $51,000. 93.86% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have weighed in on FRT. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Federal Realty Investment Trust from $115.00 to $122.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 28th. Truist Financial lifted their price objective on shares of Federal Realty Investment Trust from $115.00 to $121.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 28th. Mizuho upped their price target on Federal Realty Investment Trust from $104.00 to $116.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, August 19th. Compass Point lifted their price target on Federal Realty Investment Trust from $125.00 to $130.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. Finally, Scotiabank raised their price target on Federal Realty Investment Trust from $112.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, August 26th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Federal Realty Investment Trust presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $122.85.

Federal Realty Investment Trust Stock Up 0.5 %

FRT traded up $0.57 during trading on Monday, hitting $114.95. 719,728 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 628,689. The business’s 50 day moving average is $113.61 and its two-hundred day moving average is $105.67. Federal Realty Investment Trust has a fifty-two week low of $85.59 and a fifty-two week high of $118.34. The stock has a market cap of $9.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.91, a PEG ratio of 2.16 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a quick ratio of 1.74, a current ratio of 1.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.57.

Federal Realty Investment Trust (NYSE:FRT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The real estate investment trust reported $1.32 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.68 by ($0.36). The firm had revenue of $295.80 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $293.61 million. Federal Realty Investment Trust had a net margin of 24.69% and a return on equity of 10.07%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 5.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.67 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Federal Realty Investment Trust will post 6.81 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Federal Realty Investment Trust Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, October 1st will be paid a dividend of $1.10 per share. This represents a $4.40 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.83%. This is an increase from Federal Realty Investment Trust’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.09. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, October 1st. Federal Realty Investment Trust’s dividend payout ratio is 156.58%.

About Federal Realty Investment Trust

Federal Realty is a recognized leader in the ownership, operation and redevelopment of high-quality retail-based properties located primarily in major coastal markets from Washington, DC to Boston as well as San Francisco and Los Angeles. Founded in 1962, Federal Realty's mission is to deliver long-term, sustainable growth through investing in communities where retail demand exceeds supply.