Federal Realty Investment Trust (NYSE:FRT) Reaches New 1-Year High After Analyst Upgrade

Federal Realty Investment Trust (NYSE:FRT)’s share price hit a new 52-week high on Monday after Evercore ISI raised their price target on the stock from $120.00 to $123.00. Evercore ISI currently has an outperform rating on the stock. Federal Realty Investment Trust traded as high as $118.34 and last traded at $117.33, with a volume of 66302 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $117.39.

FRT has been the topic of several other research reports. Citigroup raised Federal Realty Investment Trust from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $120.00 to $135.00 in a research note on Friday. Raymond James upped their target price on shares of Federal Realty Investment Trust from $108.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, August 16th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Federal Realty Investment Trust from $115.00 to $122.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Federal Realty Investment Trust from $112.00 to $121.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. Finally, Mizuho lifted their target price on shares of Federal Realty Investment Trust from $104.00 to $116.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, August 19th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Federal Realty Investment Trust currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $122.85.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Federal Realty Investment Trust

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of FRT. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Federal Realty Investment Trust by 1.5% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 12,731,109 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,300,101,000 after buying an additional 193,740 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its holdings in shares of Federal Realty Investment Trust by 4.7% in the second quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 1,994,209 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $201,355,000 after acquiring an additional 90,395 shares in the last quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Federal Realty Investment Trust by 2.2% during the second quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 1,732,026 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $174,883,000 after purchasing an additional 36,880 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in shares of Federal Realty Investment Trust by 0.8% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,138,967 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $115,000,000 after purchasing an additional 8,933 shares during the period. Finally, Westwood Holdings Group Inc. raised its holdings in Federal Realty Investment Trust by 571.1% during the 2nd quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. now owns 642,446 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $64,868,000 after buying an additional 546,711 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 93.86% of the company’s stock.

Federal Realty Investment Trust Price Performance

The company’s fifty day moving average price is $112.16 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $104.85. The company has a market cap of $9.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.72, a PEG ratio of 2.20 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 posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The real estate investment trust reported $1.32 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.68 by ($0.36). The firm had revenue of $295.80 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $293.61 million. Federal Realty Investment Trust had a return on equity of 10.07% and a net margin of 24.69%. 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 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Federal Realty Investment Trust will post 6.81 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Federal Realty Investment Trust Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, October 15th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, October 1st will be paid a $1.10 dividend. This represents a $4.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.75%. 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 (DPR) is currently 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.