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Stock analysts have recently shown increased interest in real estate investment trusts (REITs) by initiating coverage for the first time. This is a positive for REITs because it signals to investors and fund managers that the analysts will provide research and further recommendations in the future.

Initiating coverage often coincides with a rise in trading volume and an increase in share price, especially if the analyst provides a target price above the present value.

Within the past two weeks, Janney Montgomery Scott and UBS analysts initiated coverage on nine different REITs. This week, KeyBanc has initiated coverage on three REITs. These actions reflect a feeling among analysts that REITs will benefit should interest rates start coming down. Here are four REITs with newly initiated coverage and some recent news:

Agree Realty Corporation (NYSE:ADC) is a triple-net-lease REIT based in Bloomfield Hills, MI, focused on retail properties. Its portfolio includes 2,161 owned and operated properties totaling 45 million square feet across 49 states. Sixty-nine percent of its tenants are investment grade, including well-known names like Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT), Best Buy Co. Inc. (NYSE:BBY), Dollar General Corp. (NYSE:DG), and Kroger Co. (NYSE:KR).

On April 23, Agree reported its first quarter 2024 operating results. FFO of $1.03 per share beat the estimate of $1.01 per share. Revenue of $149.453 million was ahead of the estimate of $146.462 million and topped its Q1 2023 revenue of $126.618 million by 18.03%.

Agree Realty has had two analysts recently initiate coverage on it. On June 12, KeyBanc analyst Upal Rana initiated coverage on Agree Realty with an Overweight rating and announced a price target of $68. On May 31, UBS analyst Michael Goldsmith initiated coverage for Agree Realty, with a Neutral rating and a price target of $60. Agree has already surpassed that and was recently trading at $61.17.

Broadstone Net Lease (NYSE:BNL) is a Rochester, NY, internally managed, diversified REIT, founded in 2007 with its Initial Public Offering (IPO) in 2020.

Broadstone leases industrial, restaurant, health care, retail and office properties with a net-lease strategy and a Weighted Average Lease Term (WALT) of 10.6 years. Its leases carry a 2% weighted average annual rent escalation. It collected 99% of its rents due in Q4 2023.

Broadstone's portfolio includes 759 properties across 44 states and four Canadian provinces. Broadstone had 200 separate tenants in 53 industries.

On May 1, Broadstone Net Lease released its first quarter 2024 operating results. FFO of $0.36 per share matched the analysts' estimates and topped FFO of $0.34 in Q1 2023. Revenue of $105.366 million missed the estimate of $107.054 million and was also 11.45% below revenue of $118.992 million in Q1 2023. Broadstone also announced full-year 2024 AFFO guidance of $1.41-$1.43, versus the consensus estimate of $1.46 per share.

On June 12, KeyBanc analyst Upal Rana initiated coverage on Broadstone Net Lease with a Sector Weight rating. No price target was announced.

Realty Income Corp (NYSE:O) is a San Diego-based, triple-net lease REIT, with over 15,450 properties across 89 industries and over 1,500 tenants worldwide. The "Monthly Dividend Company," as it calls itself, is a member of the S&P 500 and an S&P 500 Dividend Aristocrat, meaning it has paid and raised its dividends consistently for at least 25 years. Realty Income has increased its dividend for 108 consecutive months and 126 times since its IPO in 1994.

On May 6, Realty Income released its first quarter operating results. Funds From Operations (FFO) of $1.05 per share beat the estimate of $1.04 per share and revenue of $1.26 billion beat the consensus estimate of $1.10 billion.

On May 10, Mizuho analyst Vikram Malhotra maintained Realty Income with a Buy rating and raised the price target from $56 to $59. Realty Income recently closed at $54.63. On May 16, Scotiabank analyst Nicholas Yulico maintained Realty Income at Sector Perform and raised the price target from $54 to $56.

On May 17, Realty Income raised its monthly dividend by 2.1% from $0.2570 to $0.2625 per share, which on an annualized basis increases the dividend from $3.084 to $3.150 per share. This was the 647th consecutive common stock monthly dividend paid, a record unmatched by any other REIT.

On June 4, Realty Income tightened its 2024 outlook on Normalized FFO per share from $4.17-$4.29 to $4.19-$4.28. AFFO was raised from $4.13-$4.21 to $4.15-$4.21, but this was below the consensus of $4.23.

On June 11, Realty Income announced another increase in its monthly dividend, from $0.2625 to $0.2630 per share. This lifted the previous $3.15 annualized dividend to $3.156 per share. The dividend is payable July 15 to shareholders of record as of July 1. The present dividend yield is 6.02%.

On June 12, KeyBanc analyst Upal Rana initiated coverage on Realty Income with a Sector Weight rating. No price target was given.

Gladstone Land Corp (NASDAQ:LAND) is a McLean, VA-based specialty REIT, founded in 1997. It owns farmland and related properties in major agricultural U.S. markets and leases or lease-backs its properties to farmers. Gladstone presently owns 168 farms with 112,000 acres across 15 states. Gladstone Land also owns 49,000 acre-feet of banked water in California worth approximately $1.5 billion. About 40% of Gladstone Land's acreage is utilized for organic produce. Its acreage is 99.4% leased.

Gladstone has paid out 135 consecutive monthly cash distributions since its January 2013 IPO and has increased its dividend 34 times over the last 37 quarters.

On May 7, Gladstone Land released its first quarter operating results. FFO of $0.14 missed the estimate of $0.15 and was below the FFO of $0.17 in Q1 2023. Revenue of $20.252 million missed the consensus estimate of $22.307 million and was below revenue of $21.202 million in Q1 2023.

On June 11, Alliance Global Partners initiated coverage on Gladstone Land with a Buy rating and announced a price target of $16. Oppenheimer rates Gladstone Outperform and also has a $16 price target. Gladstone Land was recently trading at $13.60.

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This article These Analysts Just Initiated Coverage On Four REITs originally appeared on Benzinga.com

© 2024 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.