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Why Is Federal Realty (FRT) Down 5.4% Since the Last Earnings Report?

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A month has gone by since the last earnings report for Federal Realty Investment Trust (FRT - Free Report) . Shares have lost about 5.4% in that time frame, underperforming the market.

Will the recent negative trend continue leading up to the stock's next earnings release, or is it due for a breakout? Before we dive into how investors and analysts have reacted as of late, let's take a quick look at the most recent earnings report in order to get a better handle on the important drivers.

Federal Realty Q1 FFO and Revenues Beat Estimates

Federal Realty posted first-quarter 2017 FFO per share of $1.45, beating the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.43. The figure also came higher than the prior-year quarter tally of $1.38. Results were backed by growth in revenues.

Total revenue for the quarter grew 4.6% year over year to $207.4 million. In addition, the top line exceeded the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $206.7 million.



Quarter in Details

During the reported quarter, Federal Realty signed 114 lease deals for 591,765 square feet of retail space. As of Mar 31, 2017, the company’s overall portfolio was 94.6% leased, up 50 basis points (bps) year over year.

On a comparable-space basis (spaces for which a former tenant was there), Federal Realty leased 523,869 square feet, at an average cash-basis contractual rent escalation of 11%. Rent increases (on a straight-line basis) for comparable retail space averaged 23% for first-quarter 2017.

Same-center property operating income (including redevelopments) improved 4.3% year over year. Excluding such properties, same-center property operating income grew 1%. As of Mar 31, 2017, Federal Realty’s same-center portfolio was 95.8% leased, down 10 bps year over year. Notably, the company’s proactive anchor-releasing initiatives to reposition properties continued to have an adverse effect on its same-store quarterly results.

Federal Realty exited the first quarter with cash and cash equivalents of approximately $20.1 million, down from $23.4 at the end of 2016.

Outlook 2017

For 2017, Federal Realty raised its FFO per share guidance to $5.85–$5.93 from the previous guidance of $5.83–$5.93.

Dividend Update

Federal Realty declared a quarterly cash dividend of $0.98 per share. The dividend will be paid on Jul 17 to shareholders on record as of Jun 22, 2017.

How Have Estimates Been Moving Since Then?

Fresh estimates followed a downward trend in the last one month.

Federal Realty Investment Trust Price and Consensus

 

VGM Scores

At this time, the stock has a nice Growth Score of 'B', however its momentum is doing a bit better with an 'A'. However, the stock was allocated a grade of 'F' on the value side, putting it in the bottom 20% quintile for this investment strategy.

Overall, the stock has an aggregate VGM Score of 'C'. If you aren't focused on one strategy, this score is the one you should be interested in.

Our style scores indicate that the stock is more suitable for momentum investors than growth investors.

Outlook

The stock has a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). We are looking for an inline return from the stock in the next few months.


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