First Industrial Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:FR) Sees Large Growth in Short Interest

18 Apr 2026, 20:42 by Michael Walen · The Markets Daily

First Industrial Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:FR – Get Free Report) was the target of a large growth in short interest in the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totaling 4,431,476 shares, a growth of 19.9% from the March 15th total of 3,695,686 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,134,164 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 3.9 days. Currently, 3.4% of the shares of the company are sold short.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

FR has been the subject of several research reports. Wall Street Zen raised shares of First Industrial Realty Trust from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, April 11th. Robert W. Baird set a $65.00 price target on shares of First Industrial Realty Trust in a report on Tuesday, February 17th. Truist Financial lifted their price target on shares of First Industrial Realty Trust from $65.00 to $66.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 17th. Cantor Fitzgerald lifted their price target on shares of First Industrial Realty Trust from $58.00 to $64.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, February 6th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of First Industrial Realty Trust from $60.00 to $63.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 10th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $63.29.

Read Our Latest Stock Analysis on First Industrial Realty Trust

Institutional Trading of First Industrial Realty Trust

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. raised its position in shares of First Industrial Realty Trust by 1.9% during the 3rd quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 9,550 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $492,000 after buying an additional 179 shares in the last quarter. AlphaQuest LLC raised its position in shares of First Industrial Realty Trust by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 41,416 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $2,132,000 after buying an additional 193 shares in the last quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC raised its position in shares of First Industrial Realty Trust by 3.6% during the 3rd quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 5,670 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $292,000 after buying an additional 195 shares in the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. raised its position in shares of First Industrial Realty Trust by 7.1% during the 3rd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 2,994 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $154,000 after buying an additional 198 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Quadrant Capital Group LLC raised its position in shares of First Industrial Realty Trust by 2.0% during the 3rd quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 10,761 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock worth $554,000 after buying an additional 211 shares in the last quarter. 99.85% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

First Industrial Realty Trust Stock Performance

NYSE:FR traded up $1.27 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $63.67. The stock had a trading volume of 742,210 shares, compared to its average volume of 911,557. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.23 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $60.21 and a 200-day simple moving average of $57.83. First Industrial Realty Trust has a 52 week low of $44.58 and a 52 week high of $64.02. The company has a current ratio of 1.12, a quick ratio of 1.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.93.

First Industrial Realty Trust (NYSE:FR – Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 4th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.59 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.76 by ($0.17). The firm had revenue of $188.41 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $186.20 million. First Industrial Realty Trust had a net margin of 34.03% and a return on equity of 9.02%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.71 earnings per share. First Industrial Realty Trust has set its FY 2026 guidance at 3.090-3.190 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that First Industrial Realty Trust will post 2.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

First Industrial Realty Trust Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 20th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, March 31st will be given a dividend of $0.50 per share. This is a positive change from First Industrial Realty Trust’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, March 31st. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.1%. First Industrial Realty Trust’s payout ratio is presently 107.53%.

About First Industrial Realty Trust

(Get Free Report)

First Industrial Realty Trust, Inc (NYSE: FR) is a publicly traded real estate investment trust focused on the ownership, operation and development of industrial real estate assets. The company specializes in light industrial, warehouse and distribution facilities that serve a broad range of end markets, including manufacturing, transportation and e-commerce. Through both acquisitions and ground-up developments, First Industrial seeks to assemble a diversified portfolio of strategically located properties that support its tenants’ supply-chain needs.