7 REITs Receive Analyst Upgrades In The First Week Of May

Analyst upgrades are always welcome news for investors because upgrades trigger buying activity which supports share price appreciation.

It looks like Analysts are feeling better about the future direction of interest rates and interest-sensitive stocks such as real estate investment trusts (REITs) because, this week, seven different REITs across five different subsectors have received analyst upgrades.

Sunstone Hotel Investors Inc SHO is an Aliso Viejo, CA-based Hotel REIT with 6675 rooms in 14 hotels, on both U.S. coasts and Hawaii. Its hotel brands include Hyatt Regency, Marriott, Hilton, and Four Seasons.

On May 8, Sunstone Hotel Investors reported its first quarter 2024 operating results. Funds from Operation (FFO) of $0.19 per share beat the estimate of $0.17 per share but was below $0.21 per share FFO in Q1 2023. Revenue of $217.166 million was ahead of the estimate of $214.595 million but below revenue of $243.443 million in Q1 2023.

Disregarding the decreases from the year-ago period, On May 7, Compass Point analyst Floris Van Dijkum upgraded Sunstone Hotel from Sell to Neutral and raised the price target from $10 to $12.

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Camden Property Trust CPT is a Houston, TX-based residential REIT that owns and manages 172 properties with 58,634 units in 15 major cities across the U.S. Some apartment complexes also contain ground-floor retail space, offices, or mixed-use space. It's a member of the Standard & Poor’s 500 index (S&P 500 and) and had its IPO in 1993. At the end of Q3 2023, its occupancy level was 95.0%.

On May 6, Piper Sandler analyst Alexander Goldfarb upgraded Camden Property Trust from Underweight to Neutral and raised the price target from $90 to $110. Three other Brokerages maintained previous positions on the same day, with all raising price targets between $110 and $118.

Mid-America Apartment Communities Inc. MAA is a self-administered residential REIT specializing in purchasing and leasing apartment complexes. As of March 2024, it owns 102,662 units in 300 communities across 16 states and Washington, D.C. Most Mid-America Apartment Communities' properties are in the Southeast, Southwest, and mid-Atlantic states.

On May 1, Mid-America reported its Q1 2024 operating results. FFO of $2.22 was in line with estimates but was below FFO of $2.28 from Q1 2023. Revenue of $543.62 million beat the estimate of $542.72 million and was above Q1 2023 revenue of $529.03 million.

On May 6, Wedbush analyst Richard Anderson upgraded Mid-America Apartment from Neutral to Outperform, raising the price target by 14% from $135 to $154. 

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Healthpeak Properties Inc DOC is an El Segundo, CA-based diversified health care REIT that owns and operates private-pay facilities such as life science centers, medical offices, and continuing care retirement communities. Although it has properties throughout the country, most are in the San Francisco, San Diego, and Boston areas. Healthpeak's IPO was created in 1985 and was added to the S&P 500 in 2008. It presently owns 774 properties worth over $20 billion.

On March 1, Healthpeak officially merged with Physicians Realty Trust in an all-stock-for-stock transaction. 

On April 25, Healthpeak reported its first quarter 2024 operating results. FFO of $0.45 per share was a penny above the consensus estimate and a 7.14% increase over FFO of $0.42 per share in Q1 2023. Revenue of $606.560 million topped the consensus estimate of $588.284 million and was a 15.39% increase over revenue of $525.678 million in Q1 2023.

Healthpeak also announced an increase in its FY24 Diluted Adjusted Funds From Operations (AFFO) Guidance from $1.50-$1.56 to $1.53-$1.57. 

Investors cheered the news and Healthpeak rose over 2% following its earnings and guidance release.

On May 3, Wedbush analyst Richard Anderson upgraded Healthpeak Properties from Neutral to Outperform. No price target was given.

Tanger Inc SKT, formerly called Tanger Factory Outlet Centers Inc, is a Greensboro, NC-based retail REIT that owns, co-owns, or manages 40 indoor shopping centers and outdoor factory outlet malls with 15.6 million square feet and over 3000 stores across 20 states and in Canada. Tanger Factory Outlet Centers was founded in 1981 and had its IPO in May 1993. Tanger's occupancy rate at the end of 2023 was 97.3%

On April 30, Tanger reported excellent first quarter operating results. FFO of $0.52 beat the estimate of $0.51 and topped its Q1 2023 FFO of $0.46 per share. Revenue of $123.371 million beat the estimate of $122.804 million and was 13.24% above revenue from Q4 2022 of $108.943 million. Tanger also raised its Full Year 2024 Core FFO from $2.01-$2.09 per share to $2.03-$2.11. 

On May 2, Compass Point analyst Floris Van Dijkum upgraded Tanger from Neutral to Buy and announced a price target of $32.

PotlatchDeltic Corp PCH is a specialty REIT that invests in timberland. The Spokane, WA-based company owns nearly 2.2 million acres of timberlands across seven states. It was founded in the year 1903 as Clearwater Timber Company and became a REIT in 2006. PotlatchDeltic merged with CatchMark Timer Trust, Inc. in 2022.

On April 29, PotlatchDeltic released its first quarter 2024 operating results. Non-GAAP EPS of $0.00 beat the estimates of (0.02). Revenue of $228.127 million was ahead of the consensus estimate of $227.841 million and was 11.57% below its Q1 2023 revenue of $257.962 million.

On May 1, RBC Capital analyst Matthew McKellar upgraded PotlatchDeltic from Sector Perform to Outperform and announced a $46 price target.

American Tower Corp AMT is a Boston, MA-based specialty REIT that calls itself "a global leader in wireless infrastructure." Founded in 1995, American Tower owns, operates, and develops wireless and broadcast communications real estate. Most of its business is leasing space on wireless and broadcast towers and it also leases portions of the land below the tower for equipment storage. Typical tower components are coaxial cabling and fiber optic cables.

American Tower has a presence in 224,000 global communication sites across 25 different countries in six continents. About 42,000 of those properties are in the U.S. and Canada, and approximately 181,000 are international properties

On April 30, American Tower released its first quarter 2024 operating results. Adjusted Funds from Operations (AFFO) of $2.79 per share easily beat the consensus estimate of $2.54 per share, and AFFO of $2.54 in Q1 2023. Revenue of $2.834 billion also beat the street's view of $2.795 billion and topped revenue of $2.767 billion from Q1 2023.

On May 1, Raymond James analyst Ric Prentiss upgraded American Tower from Outperform to Strong Buy and raised the price target from $226 to $248.

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