How Agree Realty Went From A $300 Million Microcap To $1.5 Billion Business

Under Joey Agree’s leadership, Agree Realty Corporation ADC has seen a 400-percent pop in value largely catalyzed by the 2010 launch of the firm’s acquisition platform, which led to about $1 billion in net-lease retail acquisitions.

“It’s transformed the portfolio of the company, diversified the portfolio and really led us to the point where we are today,” Agree told Benzinga.

Anticipating continued economic and interest-rate growth, the company recently reported 2017 acquisition guidance between $200 million and $225 million, suggesting steady maintenance of the factor that spurred its evolution.

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Managing The Competition

While primary challenge to corporate growth are unpredictable and uncontrollable interest rate changes, Agree Realty is also affected by sector-wide improvement.

The combined market cap of all publicly traded Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs) recently surpassed $2 trillion, but that hasn’t necessarily limited deal opportunities. Agree said his particular space isn’t yet crowded, as net lease REITs represent a mere fraction — about 8 percent — of the highly fragmented real estate scene comprising the MSCIUSREIT INDEX RMZ.

“Net lease REITs are a minority of that space, so the unique thing about net lease is there is a ton of opportunity for everybody in it,” he said. “Just finding the right opportunities that qualify and hurdle for us is important.”

Agree Realty's stock is trading just above $45 per share. The stock is up about 5 percent over the last year.

Check out more from our exclusive interview with Joey Agree in the video below.