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Federal Realty (FRT) Beats Q4 FFO, Issues Upbeat 2023 View

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Federal Realty Investment Trust’s (FRT - Free Report) fourth-quarter 2022 funds from operations (FFO) per share of $1.58 surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.57. This also compares favorably with the year-ago quarter’s tally of $1.47.

Results reflect healthy leasing activity and better-than-anticipated revenues. This retail REIT provided an upbeat outlook for 2023, with FFO per share projection exceeding the consensus mark.

Quarterly revenues of $280.1 million topped the consensus mark of $276.3 million and improved by 10.2% from the year-ago quarter’s tally. For the fourth quarter, FRT generated comparable property operating income growth of 5.4%.

For the full-year 2022, Federal Realty’s FFO per share came in at $6.32, higher than the prior-year tally of $5.57 and also ahead of the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $6.30. This was backed by 12.9% growth in revenues to $1.07 billion.

Quarter in Detail

During the reported quarter, Federal Realty signed 110 leases for 425,159 square feet of retail space. On a comparable space basis, the company signed 105 leases for 415,519 square feet of space at an average rent of $43.52 per square foot. This denotes cash-basis rollover growth of 10% and 21% on a straight-line basis.

As of Dec 31, 2022, FRT’s portfolio was 92.8% occupied, denoting a quarter-over-quarter expansion of 70 basis points (bps) and 170 bps year over year. The portfolio was 94.5% leased as of Dec 31, 2022, an increase of 20 bps quarter over quarter and 90 bps year over year. Moreover, FRT’s comparable residential properties were 96.3% leased as of the same date.

Federal Realty also experienced strong small-shop leasing, ending the quarter at 90.0%. This marked an uptick of 260 bps year over year and the highest small-shop leased rate since the first quarter of 2017.

In the fourth quarter, Federal Realty sold one property for a total sales price of $67.5 million. Federal Realty exited 2022 with cash and cash equivalents of $85.56 million, down from the $162.1 million recorded at the end of 2021.

Guidance

For 2023, FRT estimates FFO per share in the range of $6.38-$6.58. This is ahead of the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $6.33.

Dividend

Concurrent with the fourth-quarter earnings release, Federal Realty announced a regular quarterly cash dividend of $1.08 per share. This indicates an annual rate of $4.32 per share. The dividend will be paid out on Apr 17 to shareholders of record as of Mar 13, 2023.

Federal Realty currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

Performance of Other Retail REITs

Simon Property Group, Inc.’s (SPG - Free Report) fourth-quarter 2022 comparable FFO per share of $3.15 exceeded the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $3.14. The figure compared favorably with the year-ago quarter’s $3.11. Simon Property’s performance was backed by a better-than-expected top line. Results reflect a healthy operating performance and growth in occupancy levels.

The Macerich Company (MAC - Free Report) reported a fourth-quarter FFO per share of 53 cents, excluding financing expenses in relation to Chandler Freehold, which surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate by a penny. The figure matched the prior-year quarter’s tally.

Macerich’s quarterly revenues of $228.2 million lagged the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $235.9 million. Also, the figure was lower than the year-ago quarter’s $229.4 million.

Upcoming Release

We now look forward to the earnings release of another retail REIT — Regency Centers Corporation (REG - Free Report) . Regency Centers is scheduled to release its earnings results today after the closing bell.

Note: Anything related to earnings presented in this write-up represent funds from operations (FFO) — a widely used metric to gauge the performance of REITs.

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