Regency Centers Corporation REG reported third-quarter 2024 NAREIT funds from operations (FFO) per share of $1.07, outpacing the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.04. The figure increased 4.9% from the prior-year quarter.

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Results reflect healthy leasing activity and a year-over-year improvement in the same property's net operating income (NOI) and base rents. The company raised its 2024 outlook.

Total revenues of $360.3 million increased 9% from the year-ago period. The figure surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $355.2 million.

Per Lisa Palmer, president and CEO of Regency, “We continue to see robust tenant demand for our grocery-anchored shopping centers, allowing us to accelerate our organic growth while further increasing our investment pipelines.”

Regency Centers Corporation Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise

Regency Centers Corporation price-consensus-eps-surprise-chart | Regency Centers Corporation Quote

Regency’s Third Quarter in Detail

In the third quarter, Regency Centers executed 1.8 million square feet of comparable new and renewal leases at a blended cash rent spread of 9.3%.

As of Sept. 30, 2024, REG’s same-property portfolio was 96.1% leased, reflecting an increase of 20 basis points (bps) sequentially and an expansion of 80 bps year over year.

The same-property anchor percent leased (includes spaces greater than or equal to 10,000 square feet) was 97.6%, increasing 100 bps year over year.

The same-property shop percent leased (includes spaces less than 10,000 square feet) was 93.7%, increasing 50 bps year over year.

The same-property NOI, excluding lease termination fees and the collection of receivables reserved during 2020 and 2021, increased 4.9% on a year-over-year basis to $235 million. The same property base rents contributed 2.7% to same-property NOI growth in the quarter.

As of Sept. 30, 2024, Regency Centers’ in-process development and redevelopment projects estimated net project costs of around $618 million at the company’s share. So far, it has incurred 47% of the cost.

Regency’s Portfolio Activity

Last August, Regency acquired East Greenwich Square in Rhode Island for around $33 million at the company’s share.

REG’s Balance Sheet

As of Sept. 30, 2024, this retail REIT had nearly $1.5 billion of capacity under its revolving credit facility. As of the same date, its pro-rata net debt and preferred stock to operating EBITDAre was 5.2X.

2024 Outlook Raised by REG

Regency Centers raised the 2024 NAREIT FFO per share guidance to the range of $4.27-$4.29 from the prior-guided range of $4.21-$4.25. The Zacks Consensus Estimate is presently pegged at $4.23, which is below the guided range.

The same property NOI (excluding termination fees or collection of 2020/2021 reserves) is expected to be up by 3.5% compared to the previous estimated range of 2.25-2.75%.

Regency Centers currently carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

Upcoming Earnings Releases

We now look forward to the earnings releases of other retail REITs, such as Federal Realty Investment Trust FRT and Realty Income O, which are slated to report on Oct. 30 and Nov. 4, respectively.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Federal Realty’s third-quarter 2024 FFO per share stands at $1.72, indicating a 4.2% rise year over year. FRT currently has a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Realty Income’s third-quarter 2024 FFO per share is pegged at $1.05, implying a 2.9% year-over-year increase. O currently carries a Zacks Rank #2.

Note: Anything related to earnings presented in this write-up represents funds from operations (FFO), a widely used metric to gauge the performance of REITs.

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