Piedmont Realty Trust (NYSE:PDM) vs. Kilroy Realty (NYSE:KRC) Critical Survey

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

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Piedmont Realty Trust and Kilroy Realty”s top-line revenue, earnings per share and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Piedmont Realty Trust	$564.99 million	2.12	-$83.62 million	($0.65)	-14.75
Kilroy Realty	$1.11 billion	3.79	$276.12 million	$1.42	25.52

Kilroy Realty has higher revenue and earnings than Piedmont Realty Trust. Piedmont Realty Trust is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Kilroy Realty, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of current recommendations and price targets for Piedmont Realty Trust and Kilroy Realty, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Piedmont Realty Trust	1	1	1	0	2.00
Kilroy Realty	2	9	5	0	2.19

Piedmont Realty Trust currently has a consensus price target of $10.50, indicating a potential upside of 9.49%. Kilroy Realty has a consensus price target of $39.13, indicating a potential upside of 7.98%. Given Piedmont Realty Trust’s higher probable upside, equities analysts plainly believe Piedmont Realty Trust is more favorable than Kilroy Realty.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

84.5% of Piedmont Realty Trust shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 94.2% of Kilroy Realty shares are owned by institutional investors. 1.2% of Piedmont Realty Trust shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 0.8% of Kilroy Realty shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a company is poised for long-term growth.

Profitability

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

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Piedmont Realty Trust	-14.18%	-5.39%	-2.00%
Kilroy Realty	15.47%	3.04%	1.56%

Volatility & Risk

Piedmont Realty Trust has a beta of 1.35, suggesting that its share price is 35% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Kilroy Realty has a beta of 1.11, suggesting that its share price is 11% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Summary

Kilroy Realty beats Piedmont Realty Trust on 11 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

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.

About Kilroy Realty

Kilroy Realty Corporation (NYSE: KRC, the company, Kilroy) is a leading U.S. landlord and developer, with operations in San Diego, Greater Los Angeles, the San Francisco Bay Area, Greater Seattle and Austin. The company has earned global recognition for sustainability, building operations, innovation and design. As a pioneer and innovator in the creation of a more sustainable real estate industry, the company's approach to modern business environments helps drive creativity and productivity for some of the world's leading technology, entertainment, life science and business services companies. The company is a publicly traded real estate investment trust (REIT) and member of the S&P MidCap 400 Index with more than seven decades of experience developing, acquiring and managing office, life science and mixed-use projects. As of December 31, 2023, Kilroy's stabilized portfolio totaled approximately 17.0 million square feet of primarily office and life science space that was 85.0% occupied and 86.4% leased. The company also had approximately 1,000 residential units in Hollywood and San Diego, which had a quarterly average occupancy of 92.5%. In addition, the company had two in-process life science redevelopment projects totaling approximately 100,000 square feet with total estimated redevelopment costs of $80.0 million and one approximately 875,000 square foot in-process development project with a total estimated investment of $1.0 billion.