Piedmont Office Realty Trust (NYSE: PDM) and Corporate Office Properties Trust (NYSE:OFC) are both mid-cap finance companies, but which is the superior investment? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their dividends, earnings, profitabiliy, analyst recommendations, risk, institutional ownership and valuation.
Dividends
Piedmont Office Realty Trust pays an annual dividend of $0.84 per share and has a dividend yield of 4.2%. Corporate Office Properties Trust pays an annual dividend of $1.10 per share and has a dividend yield of 3.4%. Piedmont Office Realty Trust pays out 221.1% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Corporate Office Properties Trust pays out 150.7% of its earnings in the form of a dividend, suggesting it may not have sufficient earnings to cover its dividend payment in the future. Corporate Office Properties Trust has raised its dividend for 3 consecutive years.
Volatility and Risk
Piedmont Office Realty Trust has a beta of 0.6, suggesting that its stock price is 40% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Corporate Office Properties Trust has a beta of 0.83, suggesting that its stock price is 17% less volatile than the S&P 500.
Analyst Recommendations
This is a breakdown of recent recommendations and price targets for Piedmont Office Realty Trust and Corporate Office Properties Trust, as provided by MarketBeat.com.
| Sell Ratings | Hold Ratings | Buy Ratings | Strong Buy Ratings | Rating Score | |
| Piedmont Office Realty Trust | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2.00 |
| Corporate Office Properties Trust | 2 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 1.90 |
Piedmont Office Realty Trust currently has a consensus target price of $20.50, suggesting a potential upside of 1.64%. Corporate Office Properties Trust has a consensus target price of $32.75, suggesting a potential upside of 0.37%. Given Piedmont Office Realty Trust’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Piedmont Office Realty Trust is more favorable than Corporate Office Properties Trust.
Profitability
This table compares Piedmont Office Realty Trust and Corporate Office Properties Trust’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.
| Net Margins | Return on Equity | Return on Assets | |
| Piedmont Office Realty Trust | 9.71% | 2.67% | 1.29% |
| Corporate Office Properties Trust | 15.86% | 6.55% | 2.48% |
Institutional & Insider Ownership
86.7% of Piedmont Office Realty Trust shares are held by institutional investors. 0.8% of Piedmont Office Realty Trust shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 0.6% of Corporate Office Properties Trust shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a company is poised for long-term growth.
Earnings and Valuation
This table compares Piedmont Office Realty Trust and Corporate Office Properties Trust’s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.
| Gross Revenue | Price/Sales Ratio | EBITDA | Earnings Per Share | Price/Earnings Ratio | |
| Piedmont Office Realty Trust | $579.79 million | 5.06 | $263.29 million | $0.38 | 53.08 |
| Corporate Office Properties Trust | $578.09 million | 5.61 | $290.41 million | $0.73 | 44.70 |
Corporate Office Properties Trust has higher revenue, but lower earnings than Piedmont Office Realty Trust. Corporate Office Properties Trust is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Piedmont Office Realty Trust, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.
Summary
Corporate Office Properties Trust beats Piedmont Office Realty Trust on 11 of the 17 factors compared between the two stocks.
About Piedmont Office Realty Trust
Piedmont Office Realty Trust, Inc. is an integrated self-managed real estate investment trust (REIT). The Company’s business consists primarily of owning, managing, operating, leasing, acquiring, developing, investing in, and disposing of office real estate assets. As of December 31, 2016, the Company owned and operated 65 in-service office properties, one redevelopment asset, two development assets and one office building through an unconsolidated joint venture. Its properties are located in areas, including New York, Chicago, Atlanta, Dallas, Boston, Minneapolis and Orlando. Its tenant base includes industries, such as business services, depository institutions, educational services, real estate, legal services and insurance carriers. The Company conducts business primarily through Piedmont Operating Partnership, L.P. (Piedmont OP). It performs the management of its buildings through its subsidiaries, including Piedmont Government Services, LLC and Piedmont Office Management, LLC.
About Corporate Office Properties Trust
Corporate Office Properties Trust is a fully-integrated and self-managed real estate investment trust (REIT). The Company owns, manages, leases, develops and acquires office and data center properties. The Company’s segments are Defense/IT Locations; Regional Office; operating wholesale data center, and other. As of December 31, 2016, the Company’s properties included 164 operating office properties totaling 17.2 million square feet, including 13 triple-net leased, single-tenant data center properties; 11 office properties under construction or redevelopment; 1,028 acres of land controlled for future development, and a wholesale data center with a critical load of 19.25 megawatts. The Company conducts all of its operations through Corporate Office Properties, L.P. (COPLP) and subsidiaries (collectively, the Operating Partnership). COPLP owns real estate both directly and through subsidiary partnerships and limited liability companies (LLCs).
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