J.P. Morgan Comments On Washington Real Estate Investment Trust 1Q Results

According to J.P. Morgan, Washington Real Estate Investment Trust WRE reported 1Q FFO ex items that was a penny ahead of our estimate and two cents ahead of Bloomberg consensus. J.P. Morgan said that the beat relative to our estimate was largely driven by better performance in the office and apartment portfolios, which it thinks is positive. “The investment activity in the quarter was previously announced (two office buildings from Vornado), but WRE did note that it has entered into a contract to buy another fully leased office asset in Tysons Corner for $73.5 million. Combined, WRE has been able to find about $200 million in deals in the past few months, which we think is pretty good in such a competitive part of the country right now. The company also closed subsequent to the end of the quarter its Dulles office sale, which was expected. Overall, we think 1Q results were a little better than expected and the company is doing fairly well on the investment front, in our view. We expect the stock to trade in line to slightly better than the group on this report.” Washington Real Estate Investment Trust closed on Thursday at $32.28.