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Piedmont (PDM) Acquires Property in Burlington Submarket

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Piedmont Office Realty Trust (PDM - Free Report) has announced the expansion of its presence in Boston, with the acquisition of 25 Burlington Mall Road in Burlington, MA. The company has shelled out around $74 million for this purchase. On the other hand, it also revealed the disposition of 800 North Brand Boulevard in Glendale, CA, generating approximately $160 million in total proceeds.

The recent capital-market transactions highlight the company’s success in selling select non-core and mature assets at low yields while redeploying the proceeds into targeted submarkets where the company already has presence and enjoys major market share.

In fact, management expects the company to realize around 3 cents per share annualized in funds from operations (FFO) accretion, while paying down debt by about $35 million. This would emanate from the collective capital allocation choices made during the fourth quarter. It also includes the previously-announced buyout of 9320 Excelsior Boulevard near Minneapolis, MN, for $49 million, this October.

Specifically, the latest Mall Road acquisition fortifies the company’s position on Route 128N in Boston. This is because the property is situated close to four others, owned by Piedmont in Burlington. This will help it benefit from operational synergies, as well as capture nearly 40% of the Class-A market share in the Boston submarket, per the company’s management.

In fact, with the acquired property having 287,776 square feet of leasable space and currently 88% leased to a diverse tenant roster, anchored by reputed names like Lahey Hospital & Medical Center, and Bank of America, Merrill Lynch, there are solid chances of top-line growth in the future. Demand for space is likely to be high backed by its solid access to Interstate 95 (Route 128) and Route 3, complemented by MBTA bus service to the Alewife Red Line station. Also, with Burlington’s shopping, dining and entertainment options being nearby and the full-service Boston Marriott Burlington Hotel being situated adjacent to it, the property is likely to command high rent.

Notably, in case of office REITs, although an improved economy, a solid job market environment and healthy corporate profit are raising expectations, there is likely to be greater balance in the market, going forward, with comparatively higher levels of new supply.

Piedmont currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). Shares of Piedmont have lost 9.3% in the past three months, while its industry edged down 0.1%.



Stocks to Consider

Better-ranked stocks from the real-estate space include Boston Properties, Inc. (BXP - Free Report) , PS Business Parks, Inc. and Outfront Media Inc. (OUT - Free Report) . Each of these stocks carries a Zacks Rank of 2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

Boston Properties’ FFO per share estimates for 2018 has been revised marginally upward to $6.39 in the last 30 days.

PS Business Parks’ Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2018 FFO per share moved 1.3% north to $6.45 in the past two months.

Outfront Media’s FFO per share estimates for the current year has been revised 2% upward to $2.09 in two months’ time.

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

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