Easterly Government Properties DEA recently announced the acquisition of the 99,246- square-foot facility adjacent to Wright-Patterson Air Force Base to Northrop Grumman Systems Corporation NOC. The move comes as part of the company’s acquisition efforts, and following this acquisition, Easterly owns, directly or through its joint venture, 95 properties aggregating 9.3 million square feet.
This 100% net leased asset with annual rent escalations has been occupied by Northrop Grumman since 2012. It is a build-to-suit facility that boasts robust security enhancements and helps in the confidentiality and integrity of the tenant’s operations.
Easterly Government Properties has been focused on strategic buyouts. Apart from the aforementioned acquisition, it has recently completed the acquisition of the prior announced 193,100-leased-square-foot outpatient facility leased to the Department of Veterans Affairs (“VA”) in Jacksonville, FL.
It marked the final property to be acquired in the previously announced portfolio of 10 properties, all of which are fully leased to the VA under mainly 20-year firm-term leases. The Veterans Health Administration operates as the largest integrated healthcare network in the United States. This ensures a steady stream of rental revenues for a long period.
With a focus on the acquisition, development and management of class A commercial properties that are leased to the U.S. Government, DEA is well-poised to experience a steady flow of rental revenues over the long term. Shares of this Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) company have risen 13.6% in the past six months, outperforming the industry’s growth of 9.6%.
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Other Stocks to Consider
Some other top-ranked stocks from the REIT sector are Cousins Properties CUZ and Lamar Advertising LAMR, each carrying a Zacks Rank #2 at present. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Cousins Properties’ 2024 FFO per share has been raised marginally over the past two months to $2.66.
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Lamar Advertising’s current-year FFO per share has moved marginally north in the past month to $8.09.
Note: Anything related to earnings presented in this write-up represents FFO, a widely used metric to gauge the performance of REITs.
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The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.
