Sophron Capital Management L.P. Buys New Position in Federal Realty Investment Trust (NYSE:FRT)

Sophron Capital Management L.P. bought a new stake in shares of Federal Realty Investment Trust (NYSE:FRT) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 62,806 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock, valued at approximately $7,031,000. Federal Realty Investment Trust comprises 2.8% of Sophron Capital Management L.P.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 16th biggest position.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of FRT. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Federal Realty Investment Trust by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 13,041,061 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $1,459,947,000 after buying an additional 218,671 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in Federal Realty Investment Trust in the fourth quarter valued at $810,544,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its position in Federal Realty Investment Trust by 3.6% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 4,885,992 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $561,743,000 after purchasing an additional 168,885 shares in the last quarter. Resolution Capital Ltd lifted its stake in Federal Realty Investment Trust by 12.4% during the fourth quarter. Resolution Capital Ltd now owns 3,523,155 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $394,417,000 after purchasing an additional 389,266 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. lifted its stake in Federal Realty Investment Trust by 41.4% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,053,443 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $341,833,000 after purchasing an additional 893,258 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.86% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

FRT has been the topic of several recent research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on Federal Realty Investment Trust from $125.00 to $114.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of Federal Realty Investment Trust from $125.00 to $113.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, March 26th. StockNews.com raised shares of Federal Realty Investment Trust from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Scotiabank lowered their price objective on shares of Federal Realty Investment Trust from $117.00 to $111.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reduced their target price on shares of Federal Realty Investment Trust from $115.75 to $115.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 14th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $116.00.

Federal Realty Investment Trust Stock Performance

NYSE:FRT opened at $97.94 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.45, a quick ratio of 1.97 and a current ratio of 1.97. Federal Realty Investment Trust has a fifty-two week low of $80.65 and a fifty-two week high of $118.34. The firm has a market cap of $8.40 billion, a PE ratio of 28.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 1.10. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $94.34 and a 200-day moving average price of $104.19.

Federal Realty Investment Trust (NYSE:FRT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The real estate investment trust reported $1.70 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.69 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $302.29 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $307.55 million. Federal Realty Investment Trust had a net margin of 24.38% and a return on equity of 9.89%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.64 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Federal Realty Investment Trust will post 7.15 earnings per share for the current year.

Federal Realty Investment Trust Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, July 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, July 1st will be issued a dividend of $1.10 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, July 1st. This represents a $4.40 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.49%. Federal Realty Investment Trust’s dividend payout ratio is currently 126.07%.

Federal Realty Investment Trust Company Profile

Federal Realty Investment Trust is an equity real estate investment trust, which engages in the provision of ownership, management, and redevelopment of retail and mixed-use properties located primarily in communities where demand exceeds supply in strategically selected metropolitan markets. The company was founded in 1962 and is headquartered in North Bethesda, MD.