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Mack-Cali (CLI) Q3 FFO Misses Estimates, Revenues Up Y/Y

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Mack-Cali Realty Corp. reported third-quarter 2017 core funds from operations (FFO) per share of 57 cents, missing the Zacks Consensus Estimate by a penny. However, the figure compared favorably with the prior-year quarter tally of 56 cents.

Total revenues of $160.0 million exceeded the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $153.9 million and came in 1.6% higher than the year-ago quarter.

Results indicate rise in parking and other income in the quarter. However, decrease in base rents and revenues from real estate services were disappointing.

Quarter in Detail

During the third quarter, Mack-Cali executed 51 lease deals, spanning around 747,562 square feet, at the company’s consolidated in-service commercial portfolio. This comprised 20% for new leases, and 80% for lease renewals and other tenant-retention deals.

As of Sep 30, 2017, Mack-Cali’s consolidated Core, Waterfront and Flex properties were 90.1% leased, up 20 basis points (bps) from the prior-quarter end.

Further, rental rate roll up for the third-quarter transactions in the company’s Core, Waterfront and Flex properties was 0.1% on a cash basis and 14.7% on GAAP basis.

Portfolio Activity

Through the first nine months of 2017, Mack-Cali completed $472 million of sales. Further, the company expects to accomplish or sign contracts for another $432 million of sales, in order to be on track to complete its sales program by early 2018.

Liquidity

Mack-Cali exited third-quarter 2017 with cash and cash equivalents of $88.8 million, up from $31.6 million recorded at the end of the prior year.

In addition, as of Sep 30, 2017, the company had a debt-to-undepreciated assets ratio of 46.2% compared with 47.5% as of Jun 30, 2017.

Guidance

Mack-Cali revised its guidance for full-year 2017. The company now projects its FFO per share in the band of $2.23-$2.27.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for the same is currently pegged at $2.26.

Our Take

Mack-Cali’s lower-than-expected result with respect to FFO per share is disappointing. Notably, it has been making progress in the 2015 strategic plan, aimed at transforming the company by focusing on waterfront and transit-based office holdings, and luxury multi-family portfolio growth.

As part of the company’s portfolio-streamlining efforts, Mack-Cali has been aggressively disposing its assets. While such measures are a strategic fit for the long term, the dilutive impact on earnings from huge asset sales cannot be bypassed. Moreover, rate hikes add to its woes.

Mack-Cali currently carries a Zacks Rank #4 (Sell).

In addition, the stock has declined 20.3% year to date, underperforming the 5.2% gain of the industry it belongs to.



Stocks to Consider

Better-ranked stocks in the REIT space include Chatham Lodging Trust (CLDT - Free Report) , Extra Space Storage Inc. (EXR - Free Report) and Lexington Realty Trust (LXP - Free Report) , each carrying a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for full-year 2017 earnings of Chatham Lodging inched up 0.5% to $2.17 in a week’s time.

The 2017 Zacks Consensus Estimate for Extra Space Storage is pegged at $4.31, indicating rise of 0.2% over a week.

The current-year Zacks Consensus Estimate for Lexington Realty Trust is pegged at 96 cents and has remained unchanged for the last month.

Note: All EPS numbers presented in this report represent funds from operations (“FFO”) per share. 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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