Duke Realty Corporation has announced the pricing of a public offering of $375 million unsecured senior notes. This is likely to add to the financial strength of the Indianapolis, IN-based real estate investment trust (“REIT”).

The senior notes bear a rate of interest of 3.25% and are due on Jun 30, 2026. Subject to the fulfillment of certain customary closing conditions, the public offering is slated to close on Jun 23, 2016. Duke Realty plans to utilize the net proceeds generated from this offering for a variety of purposes such as repurchasing and redemption of the senior notes due 2017, repayment of borrowing under revolving credit facility and general corporate purposes.

Duke Realty is a commercial REIT in the U.S., engaged in owning, managing and developing industrial and healthcare properties across the nation. The company reported first-quarter 2016 core funds from operations (“FFO”) per share of 28 cents, which came in line with the Zacks Consensus Estimate and was down 9.7% year over year. The quarter witnessed a decline in revenues.
 

DUKE REALTY CP Price

DUKE REALTY CP Price | DUKE REALTY CP Quote

The stock presently has a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).

However, investors interested in the REIT sector can consider stocks like Apple Hospitality REIT, Inc. (APLE Quick QuoteAPLE - Free Report) , Brookfield Canada Office Properties and CoreSite Realty Corporation (COR Quick QuoteCOR - Free Report) . Each of these stocks carries a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy).

Note: FFO, a widely used metric to gauge the performance of REITs, is obtained after adding depreciation and amortization and other non-cash expenses to net income.

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