Short Interest in Federal Realty Investment Trust (NYSE:FRT) Grows By 13.5%

Federal Realty Investment Trust (NYSE:FRT) was the recipient of a significant increase in short interest in the month of October. As of October 31st, there was short interest totalling 1,850,000 shares, an increase of 13.5% from the October 15th total of 1,630,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 685,800 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.7 days.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Donald C. Wood sold 30,292 shares of the firm’s 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 6,637 shares in the company, valued at approximately $771,020.29. This trade represents a 82.03 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 1.00% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Federal Realty Investment Trust

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its position in Federal Realty Investment Trust by 6.7% in the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 309,103 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $31,567,000 after buying an additional 19,453 shares during the last quarter. Vident Advisory LLC increased its position in shares of Federal Realty Investment Trust by 107.9% during the 1st quarter. Vident Advisory LLC now owns 46,501 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $4,749,000 after purchasing an additional 24,134 shares during the last quarter. Gateway Investment Advisers LLC acquired a new position in shares of Federal Realty Investment Trust during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $5,865,000. Cetera Investment Advisers increased its position in shares of Federal Realty Investment Trust by 274.5% during the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 21,711 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $2,217,000 after purchasing an additional 15,914 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Federal Realty Investment Trust by 1.5% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 12,731,109 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,300,101,000 after purchasing an additional 193,740 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.86% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently commented on the company. Citigroup upgraded Federal Realty Investment Trust from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $120.00 to $135.00 in a research report on Friday, September 13th. Evercore ISI raised their target price on Federal Realty Investment Trust from $120.00 to $123.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, September 16th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Federal Realty Investment Trust from $115.00 to $122.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 28th. Piper Sandler raised their target price on Federal Realty Investment Trust from $122.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, Raymond James raised their target price on Federal Realty Investment Trust from $108.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, August 16th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $122.85.

Federal Realty Investment Trust Stock Down 1.6 %

Federal Realty Investment Trust stock traded down $1.86 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $111.68. The stock had a trading volume of 109,601 shares, compared to its average volume of 629,011. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $113.58 and its 200-day simple moving average is $108.67. Federal Realty Investment Trust has a 1-year low of $90.84 and a 1-year high of $118.34. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.14 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.48, a quick ratio of 1.56 and a current ratio of 1.56.

Federal Realty Investment Trust Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, January 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, January 2nd will be given a $1.10 dividend. This represents a $4.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.94%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, January 2nd. Federal Realty Investment Trust’s dividend payout ratio is presently 127.91%.

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.