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Federal Realty (FRT) Tops Q1 FFO Estimates, Issues Solid '21 View

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Federal Realty Investment Trust’s (FRT - Free Report) first-quarter 2021 funds from operations (FFO) per share of $1.17 surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.02. Results reflect better-than-anticipated revenues.

Quarterly revenues of $218.2 million topped the consensus mark of $206.3 million. The retail REIT has also issued a solid view for 2021 FFO per share.

According to Donald C. Wood, the company’s chief executive officer,"We saw another quarter of strong leasing demand from a broad base of high-quality tenants with first quarter 2021 leasing over 37% higher than our 10-year first quarter average.”

However, the reported FFO per share decreased from the $1.50 reported in the year-ago quarter. In addition, revenues fell 5.8% year on year in the first quarter, reflecting the adverse impact of the pandemic.

The company noted that while all 101 of its properties are open and operational, roughly 98% of its retail tenants based on annualized base rent were open and operational as of Apr 30, 2021. It has also collected about 90% of total first-quarter 2021 billed recurring rents as of Apr 27, 2021.

Quarter in Details

During the reported quarter, Federal Realty signed 110 leases for 514,636 square feet of retail space. On a comparable space basis, the company leased 506,307 square feet at an average rent of $36.58 per square feet. This denotes cash-basis rollover growth of 9%, 17% on a straight-line basis.

As of Mar 31, 2021, the REIT’s overall portfolio was 91.8% leased. As of the same date, the comparable property portfolio was 91.7% leased.

During the first quarter, Federal Realty sold an 8-acre portion of Graham Park Plaza in Falls Church, VA, for gross proceeds of $20.3 million.

Balance Sheet

Federal Realty exited first-quarter 2021 with cash and cash equivalents of $779.9 million, down from the $798.3 million recorded at the end of 2020. 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.

Outlook

Federal Realty provided guidance for both 2021 and 2022. For 2021, the company projects FFO per share of $4.54-$4.70. This is ahead of the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $4.49.

For 2022, the REIT estimates FFO per share of $5.05-$5.25. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for the same is currently pinned at $5.07.

Dividend Update

Concurrent with the first-quarter 2021 earnings release, Federal Realty announced a 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 Jul 15, to shareholders of record as of Jun 22, 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

Kimco Realty Corp.’s (KIM - Free Report) first-quarter NAREIT FFO came in at 33 cents per share, surpassing the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 30 cents. Results highlighted better-than-anticipated top-line numbers. It generated revenues of $282.3 million, exceeding the consensus mark of $263 million. Moreover, the retail REIT raised the outlook for 2021. With a well-located and largely grocery-anchored portfolio that offers essential goods and services, the retail REIT witnessed decent leasing activity during the first quarter. Rent-collection figures were also healthy. The company collected 94% of total pro-rata base rents billed during the first quarter.

Realty Income Corporation’s (O - Free Report) first-quarter 2021 adjusted funds from operations (AFFO) per share of 86 cents surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 85 cents. The encouraging performance reflected improved revenues in the quarter. The retail REIT also apprised of its rental receipts through Mar 31, 2021, and noted that it has collected 94.1% of contractual rent due for the first quarter across the total portfolio.

We now look forward to the earnings release of another retail REIT — Regency Centers Corporation (REG - Free Report) — which is slated to report today.

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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