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Federal Realty's (FRT) Q4 FFO & Revenues Beat Estimates

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Federal Realty Investment Trust’s (FRT - Free Report) fourth-quarter 2020 adjusted funds from operations (FFO) per share of $1.14 surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.07. Results reflect better-than-anticipated revenues. Quarterly revenues of $219.5 million topped the consensus mark of $208.9 million.

According to Donald C. Wood, the company’s president and chief executive officer, though quarterly and yearly results were affected by COVID, “the sheer volume of leasing and other transactions” executed at the end of 2020, together with “the continuing strong leasing demand” for its real estate as “evidenced by the many substantive discussions” with prospective tenants makes it well poised for a post COVID recovery with vaccines rollout to a larger chunk of the population.

However, the reported FFO per share decreased from the $1.58 reported in the year-ago quarter. In addition, revenues fell 8.2% year on year in the fourth quarter. The pandemic’s adverse impact and the resultant collectability-related impacts caused these year-over-year declines.

Nevertheless, the situation has now improved from the initial days of the pandemic, and the company noted that though all 101 of its properties are open and operational, roughly 98% of its retail tenants based on annualized base rent are open and operational as of Jan 31, 2021. It has also collected about 89% of total fourth-quarter 2020 billed recurring rents as of that date.

For 2020, the company reported adjusted FFO per share of $4.52, down from the prior year’s $6.33. Total revenues of $835.5 million slid 10.7% year on year.

Quarter in Details

During the reported quarter, Federal Realty signed 103 leases for 468,901 square feet of retail space. On a comparable space basis, the company leased 449,783 square feet at an average rent of $32.16 per square foot. This denotes cash-basis rollover growth of 1%, 11% on a straight-line basis.

As of Dec 31, 2020, the REIT’s overall portfolio was 92.2% leased. As of the same date, the comparable property portfolio was 92.1% leased.

Balance Sheet

Federal Realty exited 2020 with cash and cash equivalents of $798.3 million, up from the $127.4 million recorded at the end of 2019. Along with undrawn availability under its $1-billion revolving credit facility, the company’s liquidity amounted to $1.8 billion. Moreover, it has no public bonds maturing until 2023.

Dividend Update

Concurrent with the fourth-quarter 2020 earnings release, Federal Realty announced its regular quarterly cash dividend to $1.06 per share. It indicates an annual rate of $4.24 per share. The dividend will be paid out on Apr 15, 2021, to shareholders of record as of Mar 16, 2021.

Federal Realty currently carries a Zacks Rank #4 (Sell).

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 2020 FFO per share of $2.17 missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $2.19. The reported figure also came in 26.7% lower than the year-ago quarter’s $2.96. Results reflected the pandemic’s adverse impact on the company’s domestic and international operations, with an impact of 95 cents per share, chiefly on reduced revenues, partly mitigated by cost-reduction moves.

Kimco Realty Corp.’s (KIM - Free Report) NAREIT FFO per share came in at 31 cents, surpassing the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 30 cents for the December-end quarter. Results highlighted better-than-anticipated revenue numbers. Remarkably, the retail REIT generated revenues of $269.4 million, exceeding the consensus mark of $267.8 million. Nonetheless, the FFO per share came in lower than the year-ago quarter’s 36 cents. Also, revenues declined 9% year on year. Results underline a fall in same-property NOI, mainly affected by a charge for potentially uncollectible accounts receivable.

The Macerich Company (MAC - Free Report) delivered an adjusted FFO per share of 45 cents, which missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 54 cents. The figure also plunged 54% year over year. Adjusted FFO per share for the quarter excludes financing expenses in relation to Chandler Freehold. The decrease was primarily due to a revenue decline from COVID-related rent abatements. Macerich also saw a decline in same-center NOI.

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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