Michael Gerard
Marketing Director
GRS Group
(949) 272-0022
[email protected]
In the REIT world, at least for most investors, there are a few household names that always pop up and are consistently monitored due to their sheer size and market valuation. Those usual suspects include Simon Property Group, ProLogis, GGP and a handful of others.
But there are plenty of smaller REITs out there performing strongly.
REIT tracker Brad Thomas recently posted an interesting article about small-cap REITs and some of his favorites in the space that are garnering high returns, so we thought we would take a brief look at each of them and see how they are performing operationally.
STAG Industrial
Boston-based STAG Industrial owns just under 350 single-tenant industrial buildings across the country, which seems like a good space to operate in right now, given the health of that sector of commercial real estate.
STAG had a less-than-shabby third quarter. Net income came in at $18.5 million, as opposed to a loss of $3.8 million during the same year-ago period. FFO was also up 7.5 percent year over year. Meanwhile, the company acquired 10 industrial assets, priced at just under $120 million.
Independence Realty Trust
The multifamily sector of commercial real estate has consistently done well since the recession, but Independence Realty Trust’s third-quarter results don’t do the apartment sector much justice right now on face value, seeing that net income and FFO both fell year over year.
However, IRT did see increases in rental income, total revenue and NOI quarter over quarter. Also, in early September, the Philadelphia-based REIT, which owns 55 assets in secondary markets, entered an agreement to pay $228 million for multifamily assets in the Midwest and the Atlanta area.
Community Healthcare Trust
Based in Franklin, Tenn., Community Healthcare Trust is amongst the companies enjoying a strong seniors housing commercial real estate sector, and the expectations that it will see more growth.
CHCT is expanding in its own right. In its latest quarter, which ended in August, the REIT purchased 10 assets totaling just under $36 million. The company currently has ownership in 78 assets across 25 states. It also completed a public offering of nearly 4.9 million common shares during the period.
CHCT also announced recently that the firm will increase its third-quarter dividend.
Hannon Armstrong
Finally, Hannon Armstrong, based in Annapolis, Md., is an infrastructure REIT. Though President Trump’s infrastructure plan has not yet come to fruition, this area is a major commercial real estate priority and often overlooked compared to assets that seem more tangible. But they shouldn’t be.
Hannon Armstrong has a balance sheet of $2.3 billion invested in 170 different endeavors. The REIT’s third quarter saw earnings per share increase, and year-to-date transactions at the end of the period totaled $751 million.
HASI primarily puts money into energy efficient projects primarily powered by solar and wind sources, and as we know at GRS Group through our engineering work and advisory services, this is an area valued by investors in commercial real estate.
About GRS Group
GRS Group is a leading provider of commercial real estate (“CRE”) services worldwide. With offices across the United States, Europe, and affiliates around the globe, GRS Group provides local market knowledge with a global perspective for institutional real estate investors, occupiers and lenders worldwide. The GRS Group team has evaluated and advised on over $1 trillion in CRE transactions.
Through the company’s proprietary management process, Global Services Connection, GRS Group delivers an integrated suite of services including Financial Advisory, Transaction Management, Assessment and Title Insurance. We provide a single point of contact, capable of leveraging the GRS Group portfolio of companies and delivering customized solutions to assist our clients in achieving their investment goals.