Financial Analysis: Piedmont Realty Trust (NYSE:PDM) vs. Office Properties Income Trust (NASDAQ:OPI)

Office Properties Income Trust (NASDAQ:OPI) and Piedmont Realty Trust (NYSE:PDM) are both small-cap real estate companies, but which is the superior stock? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their analyst recommendations, valuation, dividends, risk, profitability, earnings and institutional ownership.

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Office Properties Income Trust and Piedmont Realty Trust”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Office Properties Income Trust	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
Piedmont Realty Trust	$564.99 million	2.10	-$83.62 million	($0.65)	-14.61

Office Properties Income Trust has higher earnings, but lower revenue than Piedmont Realty Trust.

Profitability

This table compares Office Properties Income Trust and Piedmont Realty Trust’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Office Properties Income Trust	N/A	N/A	N/A
Piedmont Realty Trust	-14.18%	-5.39%	-2.00%

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent ratings and target prices for Office Properties Income Trust and Piedmont Realty Trust, as provided by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Office Properties Income Trust	1	0	0	1	2.50
Piedmont Realty Trust	1	1	1	0	2.00

Office Properties Income Trust presently has a consensus target price of $27.00, suggesting a potential upside of 42.18%. Piedmont Realty Trust has a consensus target price of $10.50, suggesting a potential upside of 10.58%. Given Office Properties Income Trust’s stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, equities research analysts clearly believe Office Properties Income Trust is more favorable than Piedmont Realty Trust.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

64.4% of Office Properties Income Trust shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 84.5% of Piedmont Realty Trust shares are owned by institutional investors. 1.8% of Office Properties Income Trust shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 1.2% of Piedmont Realty Trust shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Summary

Office Properties Income Trust beats Piedmont Realty Trust on 7 of the 10 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Office Properties Income Trust

Office Properties Income Trust is a real estate investment trust. It owns, operates, and leases office buildings to single tenants and multi-tenant buildings. The company was founded on February 17, 2009 and is headquartered in Newton, MA.

About Piedmont Realty Trust

Piedmont Office Realty Trust, Inc. (also referred to herein as "Piedmont" or the "Company") (NYSE: PDM) is an owner, manager, developer, redeveloper and operator of high-quality, Class A office properties located primarily in major U.S. Sunbelt markets. The Company is a fully-integrated, self-managed real estate investment trust ("REIT") with local management offices in each of its markets and is investment-grade rated by Standard & Poor's and Moody's. The Company was designated an Energy Star Partner of the Year for 2021, 2022 and 2023, and it was the only office REIT headquartered in the Southeast to receive those designations. Approximately 85% of the Company's square footage is Energy Star certified and nearly 70% is LEED certified. Piedmont is headquartered in Atlanta, GA.