Piedmont Issues Fourth-Quarter Leasing Activities Updates

Piedmont Office Realty Trust (NYSE:PDM) recently announced its leasing of approximately 2.1 million square feet in 2017, of which 900,000 square feet were rented out in the fourth quarter alone. Renewal of an existing lease deal and the renting of a new building were the major transactions undertaken by the company in the fourth quarter.

The above deals included, the renewal of Raytheon Company (NYSE:RTN)'s 440,000-square foot lease through 2024, at 225 & 235 Presidential Way in the Boston office market and a new building deal with Gartner, Inc. covering roughly 152,000 square foot in the Dallas market at 6011 Connection Drive through 2034.

Other noteworthy deals included, 51,000-square foot expansion of US Bancorp’s current space at US Bancorp (NYSE:USB) Center in Minneapolis, MN, through 2024, Consilium Staffing, LLC's 5,000 square feet expansion and renewal of existing 15,000 square feet through 2021 at 161 Corporate Center in Irving, TX and Harvard University’s renewal of 5,000 square feet and expansion of 15,000 square feet at One Brattle Square (NYSE:SQ) in Cambridge, MA to 2030.

Piedmont is engaged in acquisition, ownership, management and development of high-quality Class A office properties located across major U.S. markets. The continued transactional activity hints at its success in selling non-strategic assets and redeploying the proceeds into targeted submarkets.

Piedmont currently carries a Zacks Rank #4 (Sell). Over the past 30 days, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2017 funds from operations (FFO) per share remained unchanged at $1.75.

Shares of Piedmont lost 7.7% in the past six months, as against the decline of 5.4% recorded by the industry it belongs to.

Stocks That Warrant a Look

Rexford Industrial Realty (NYSE:REXR) witnessed an upward earnings estimate revision of nearly 1% for 2018 in the last 60 days. Also, its shares gained 80.7% in the past 12 months. It carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for American Tower Corporation (NYSE:AMT) for 2018 has been revised upward marginally over the last 60 days. Also, its shares have moved up 50.4% in 12 months’ time. It carries a Zacks Rank #2.

Easterly Government Properties’ (NYSE:DEA) Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2018 has remained stable over the last 60 days. Its shares have gained 19.6% in the past 12 months. It carries a Zacks Rank #2.

Note: All EPS numbers presented in this write up represent FFO per share. FFO, a widely used metric to gauge the performance of REITs, is obtained after adding depreciation and amortization and other non-cash expenses to net income.

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American Tower Corporation (REIT) (AMT): Free Stock Analysis Report

Piedmont Office Realty Trust, Inc. (PDM): Free Stock Analysis Report

Easterly Government Properties, Inc. (DEA): Free Stock Analysis Report

Rexford Industrial Realty, Inc. (REXR): Free Stock Analysis Report

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