The 5 Best Performing REITs In June

June was a mixed month for real estate investment trusts (REITs), with a little over half of all REITs ending the month in positive territory. The Vanguard Real Estate Index Fund ETF VNQ added to its strong May performance with a total June return of 1.87%.

Despite the mixed performance, the total returns of the five best REIT performers this month were quite strong. Here's a look: 

National Storage Affiliates Trust

National Storage Affiliates Trust NSA is a Greenwood, CO-based self-storage REIT that owns and operates 1,050 self-storage properties in the largest metropolitan areas throughout 42 states and Puerto Rico. 65% of its portfolio is in Sun Belt states. Its May 2024 occupancy level was 86.7%, up from 85.9% in March.

National Storage had a total return of 14.22% to lead all REITs. 

The news that triggered National Storage's strong month was its June 3 announcement that it is terminating its agreements with eight external management groups that currently manage 32% of National Storage facilities by July 1. Instead, National Storage will begin managing its operations, saving between $7.5-$9.0 million per year on supervisory and administrative fees.

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Independence Realty Trust

Independence Realty Trust, Inc. IRT is a Philadelphia-based residential REIT that, at the end of 2023, had 110 multifamily properties with 32,685 units across 12 states. 74% of the portfolio is in Sunbelt regions. Its investment strategy focuses on purchasing properties near major employment centers, good school districts, and higher-class retail stores. Independence Realty had an average occupancy rate of 95.7% in May for Same-Store. 

Independence Realty surpassed its gain of 7.42% in May with a June total return of 13.17%, making it the second-leading REIT of the month. 

In 2024, analysts from Baird, JMP Securities, and RBC Capital all rated Independence Realty as Outperform and gave it a $17 price targets. Since Independence Realty closed out in June at $18.74, it would not be surprising to see one or more analysts raise its price targets soon.

Iron Mountain

Iron Mountain Inc. IRM is a Portsmouth, NH-based specialty REIT focused on information management and storage, data center infrastructure and asset life cycle management. Iron Mountain was founded in 1951 and has more than 240,000 customers worldwide. In recent years, Iron Mountain has shifted its focus from paper storage to data storage. 

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On June 27, Goldman Sachs analyst George Tong maintained Iron Mountain at Buy and raised the price target from $89 to $101, representing a potential gain of 11.60% from its end-of-June closing of $89.60. 

Iron Mountain continues to perform well with gains, achieving a total return of 11.87% in June after a 4.14% gain in May. Iron Mountain is now up 32.48% year-to-date. 

However, one thing to note is that Iron Mountain's short percent of float has been rising steadily, with 12.47 million shares sold short, or 5.1% of all regular shares. Investors may be loading up with the expectation that these gains are not sustainable. 

Chimera Investment Corp. 

Chimera Investment Corp CIM is a New York City-based mortgage REIT (mREIT) that invests in a diversified portfolio of mortgage assets through residential mortgages, Non-Agency Residential Mortgage-Backed Securities (RMBS), Agency Commercial Backed Securities (CMBS), and Agency RMBS. Chimera was founded in 2007 and has $12.5 billion in total assets.

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On May 10, Chimera announced that its Board of Directors had approved a reverse stock split of its common stock with a ratio of 1-for-3. The split began trading on May 22, reducing outstanding shares from 241.4 million to 80.5 million. Investors were not pleased with the news, and the stock fell from over $14 to a low of $11.28 within a month. 

However, Chimera began to rebound on June 13 after it announced a 6% increase in its quarterly dividend from $0.33 to $0.35 per share. 

Chimera's total return in June was 10.50%, including a dividend payment of $0.35. One reason for its recent success is the $10 million of longer-term, higher-cost financing it paid down.

NexPoint Residential Trust

NexPoint Residential Trust NXRT is a Dallas, TX-based Residential REIT focused on acquiring and managing multifamily assets, primarily in the Sun Belt region of the U.S. NexPoint is externally managed by NexPoint Real Estate Advisors, L.P. As of May 2024, NexPoint owns 36 properties with 13,174 units across 11 U.S. markets. Its portfolio occupancy is 94.8%. 

On June 24, Truist Securities analyst Michael Lewis maintained NexPoint Residential Trust with a Hold rating but raised the price target from $34 to $37. Earlier this month, Deutsche Bank analyst Omotayo Okusanya downgraded NexPoint from Buy to Hold and maintained a $38 price target.   

Nexpoint Residential’s total return was 9.00% in June; year-to-date, it is 16.86%. It was also one of the best-performing REITs in April.

Are You Missing Out On Higher Yields?

The current high-interest-rate environment has created an incredible opportunity for income-seeking investors to earn massive yields, but not through dividend stocks… Certain private market real estate investments are giving retail investors the opportunity to capitalize on these high-yield opportunities and Benzinga has identified some of the most attractive options for you to consider. 

For example, the Jeff Bezos-backed investment platform just launched its Private Credit Fund, which provides access to a pool of short-term loans backed by residential real estate with a target 7% to 9% net annual yield paid to investors monthly. The best part? Unlike other private credit funds, this one has a minimum investment of only $100. 

Don't miss out on this opportunity to take advantage of high-yield investments while rates are high. Check out Benzinga's favorite high-yield offerings. 

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