COLUMBIA, MD—Last week Corporate Office PropertiesTrust announced that its diluted earnings per share, orFFOPS, was zero for the quarter ended March 31, 2014, compared to $0.11 in the first quarter of 2013. Its portfolio was89.8% occupied and 91.1% leased as of March 31. It had completedsome 446,000 square feet in total leasing for its core officeproperties, at a 56% renewal rate. It also had eight propertiestotaling 1.2 million square feet under development, of which halfwas pre-leased. COPT also announced it was raising its guidance forits 2014 FFOPS by one penny to a new range of $1.85–$1.92. SaidRoger A. Waesche, Jr., COPT's president and CEO:"We are at a positive inflection point, and expect 2014 will be arewarding year for shareholders."

RBC Capital Markets is inclined to agree. In aresearch note the firm announced it was maintaining its SectorPerform rating and $28/share price target for the REIT in partbecause its fundamentals appear to be turning. "We expect 2Q14 willmark the cyclical low point of the earnings trend," it said.

Reasons for RBC's optimism include the stabilization of theDepartment of Defense's budget and the fact that defensecontractors are becoming more active in the leasing market.However, the firm cautioned, this activity is unlikely to translateinto signed leases until 2015.