Corporate Office Properties Inks Build-to-Suit Lease Deal

Corporate Office Properties Trust (NYSE:OFC) has accomplished a build-to-suit, long-term lease deal with a Fortune 500 company for the construction of two 149,000 square feet, 100% pre-leased buildings in Northern Virginia. The deal was executed in December 2017.

The company has already purchased the land required to support these projects and additional ones for future projects.

Corporate Office Properties issued 9.2 million shares of common stock at a price of $31 per share in the fourth quarter of 2017. Of these, 1.7 million shares, totaling to proceeds of $50 million, were issued to fund the purchase of the land which would be used for the construction of the buildings.

The company mainly focuses on the ownership, management, leasing, acquisition and development of office and data center properties in select locations in the United States. On Sep 30, 2017, the company’s core portfolio included 153 office properties, spanning an area of 16.7 million square feet. As of the same date, its portfolio was 95.1% leased.

In the last 30 days, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for the compnay’s 2017 funds from operations (FFO) per share of $2.03 remained stable. However, the company carries a Zacks Rank #5 (Strong Sell).

Shares of Corporate Office Properties underperformed the industry in the past six months. The company’s shares have declined 17.7% against the industry’s rally of 0.1%.

Stocks That Warrant a Look

Rexford Industrial Realty (NYSE:REXR) witnessed an upward earnings estimate revision of nearly 1% for 2018 in the last 60 days. Also, its shares have gained 7% in the past six months. It carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for American Tower Corporation (NYSE:AMT) for 2018 has been revised upward marginally over the last 60 days. Also, its shares have inched up 8.2% in six months’ time. It carries a Zacks Rank #2.

One Liberty Properties (NYSE:OLP) witnessed marginally upward earnings estimate revision for 2017 in the last 60 days. Also, its shares have gained 13% in the past six months. It has a Zacks Rank #2.

Note: All EPS numbers presented in this write up represent funds from operations (“FFO”) per share. FFO, a widely used metric to gauge the performance of REITs, is obtained after adding depreciation and amortization and other non-cash expenses to net income.

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