First Industrial Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:FR) Short Interest Up 8.9% in September

First Industrial Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:FR) saw a significant increase in short interest during the month of September. As of September 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,950,000 shares, an increase of 8.9% from the August 31st total of 1,790,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,020,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 1.9 days.

Institutional Trading of First Industrial Realty Trust

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of FR. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. raised its stake in shares of First Industrial Realty Trust by 781.7% during the 1st quarter. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. now owns 529 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 469 shares during the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its position in shares of First Industrial Realty Trust by 46.4% during the second quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 631 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Mather Group LLC. acquired a new stake in shares of First Industrial Realty Trust during the first quarter worth $50,000. C M Bidwell & Associates Ltd. boosted its stake in First Industrial Realty Trust by 119.5% in the fourth quarter. C M Bidwell & Associates Ltd. now owns 1,405 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $74,000 after acquiring an additional 765 shares during the period. Finally, Ables Iannone Moore & Associates Inc. acquired a new stake in First Industrial Realty Trust in the fourth quarter worth $82,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.85% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

FR has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on First Industrial Realty Trust from $50.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 28th. Truist Financial upped their price target on shares of First Industrial Realty Trust from $54.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, August 5th. Scotiabank lifted their price objective on First Industrial Realty Trust from $55.00 to $58.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Monday, August 26th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on First Industrial Realty Trust from $57.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. Finally, Mizuho boosted their price target on First Industrial Realty Trust from $58.00 to $62.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, September 5th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $56.46.

First Industrial Realty Trust Trading Down 1.6 %

NYSE FR traded down $0.87 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $55.11. The stock had a trading volume of 712,608 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,073,422. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $55.11 and a 200 day moving average price of $50.96. The company has a quick ratio of 1.16, a current ratio of 1.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83. First Industrial Realty Trust has a twelve month low of $40.44 and a twelve month high of $57.35. The company has a market capitalization of $7.29 billion, a PE ratio of 25.40 and a beta of 1.08.

First Industrial Realty Trust (NYSE:FR) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 17th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.64 by ($0.25). First Industrial Realty Trust had a net margin of 44.46% and a return on equity of 10.72%. The company had revenue of $164.10 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $163.48 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.61 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 7.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that First Industrial Realty Trust will post 2.62 earnings per share for the current year.

First Industrial Realty Trust Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, October 21st. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 30th will be given a dividend of $0.37 per share. This represents a $1.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.69%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 30th. First Industrial Realty Trust’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 68.20%.

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.