First Industrial Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:FR) Short Interest Update

First Industrial Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:FR) saw a significant increase in short interest during the month of October. As of October 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,580,000 shares, an increase of 14.5% from the September 30th total of 1,380,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 1,200,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 1.3 days.

First Industrial Realty Trust Stock Down 0.6 %

FR stock traded down $0.32 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $53.08. 15,914 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,099,874. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $55.44 and a 200-day moving average price of $51.36. First Industrial Realty Trust has a 12-month low of $41.68 and a 12-month high of $57.35. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.60 and a beta of 1.08. The company has a current ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 1.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80.

First Industrial Realty Trust (NYSE:FR) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.75 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.67 by $0.08. First Industrial Realty Trust had a net margin of 47.34% and a return on equity of 11.53%. The company had revenue of $167.60 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $164.01 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.62 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 8.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts anticipate that First Industrial Realty Trust will post 2.63 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in FR. QRG Capital Management Inc. raised its position in shares of First Industrial Realty Trust by 7.2% during the 3rd quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 12,329 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $690,000 after buying an additional 828 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its stake in shares of First Industrial Realty Trust by 12.2% during the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 52,170 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $2,881,000 after acquiring an additional 5,668 shares during the period. Farther Finance Advisors LLC raised its holdings in First Industrial Realty Trust by 77.4% during the third quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 956 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $53,000 after purchasing an additional 417 shares in the last quarter. abrdn plc lifted its position in First Industrial Realty Trust by 8.9% in the third quarter. abrdn plc now owns 27,146 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $1,520,000 after purchasing an additional 2,222 shares during the period. Finally, Vanderbilt University acquired a new stake in First Industrial Realty Trust in the third quarter worth approximately $3,219,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 99.85% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have weighed in on the company. Wolfe Research upgraded First Industrial Realty Trust from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $64.00 price target for the company in a report on Tuesday, August 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on First Industrial Realty Trust from $53.00 to $60.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Mizuho lifted their price target on First Industrial Realty Trust from $58.00 to $62.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, September 5th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of First Industrial Realty Trust from $50.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 28th. Finally, Barclays upped their price target on shares of First Industrial Realty Trust from $52.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $57.92.

About First Industrial Realty Trust

First Industrial Realty Trust, Inc (NYSE: FR) is a leading U.S.-only owner, operator, developer and acquirer of logistics properties. Through our fully integrated operating and investing platform, we provide high quality facilities and industry-leading customer service to multinational corporations and regional firms that are essential for their supply chains.