Truist Securities has reiterated its Buy rating on First Industrial Realty Trust (NYSE: FR) and kept its price objective at $65.00. The broker's stance follows the company's latest quarterly results and forward guidance, with the shares changing hands at $58.44 and trading roughly 2.9% below a 52-week peak of $60.20 - a level that suggests continuing investor confidence in the industrial REIT.
First Industrial reported fourth-quarter funds from operations (FFO) of $0.77 per share, narrowly outperforming both Truist’s internal estimate and the consensus figure of $0.76 per share. Truist attributed the slight outperformance primarily to stronger net operating income (NOI) from net investments, although the gain was partly offset by higher general and administrative expenses.
For 2026 the company provided a NAREIT FFO guidance range of $3.09 to $3.19 per share, with the midpoint of $3.14 coming in just below the consensus estimate of $3.15 per share. Management also reported that cash blended lease spreads on leases signed to date that will commence in 2026 are tracking at +35%, a metric that underlines robust pricing on newly contracted leases.
Truist highlighted potential upside to First Industrial's same-store cash NOI growth guidance of 5.0%-6.0%, and noted that the company has aligned with peer industrial REITs in reporting or guiding to continued healthy growth during this earnings season. At present, the company’s price-to-earnings ratio stands at 32.9, indicating that investors are paying a premium for its stable growth profile.
In a move signaling confidence in both cash flow and the company's payout capacity, First Industrial raised its quarterly common stock dividend by 12.4%. Company dividend data show a 13-year streak of dividend increases, a current yield of 3.05%, and dividend growth of 20.27% over the last twelve months.
Overall, Truist's maintained Buy rating, the modest FFO beat, the company’s 2026 guidance, the strong cash blended lease spreads, and the sizeable dividend increase present a mixed but constructive picture for the REIT: steady operational performance with measured guidance and a valuation that commands a premium from investors.
Data and metrics referenced in this report are taken from the company's disclosed quarterly results and the guidance provided by First Industrial, along with valuation and dividend figures reported alongside those results.