Liberty Property's Liberty Ridge Achieves 100% Occupancy

Liberty Property Trust’s (NYSE:LPT) industrial properties are not only witnessing robust demand from existing tenants but are also attracting new tenants. Recently, the company bagged a new lease at Liberty Ridge III that enabled it to achieve 100% occupancy at Liberty Ridge Industrial Park.

Specifically, Liberty Property will rent out 22,680 square feet of space to an apparel company at 1955 T.W. Alexander Drive — one of four LEED certified buildings developed by the company in the park. Move-in is expected before December end.

Further, a renewal lease at Keystone Technology Park in Morrisville, NC helps the company to maintain full-leased status at the facility. In fact, Lennox Industries, which has been occupying 24,000 square feet of space at 323 Park Knoll Drive since 2012, renewed its lease with the company.

Per management, strategic location of its properties in the Triangle and the Research Triangle Park submarket has allowed the company to enjoy demand for industrial space. Underpinning this encouraging business environment, the company remains focused to expand its development pipeline in the Triangle.

Liberty Property is expected to benefit from its focus on industrial properties and positive fundamentals in the real estate market. However, a flurry of construction activity in the Raleigh-Durham market is expected to hinder rental rates and absorption at the company’s properties.

It currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). In the past three months, the company’s shares have gained 5.6% while the industry registered growth of 0.1%.

Key Picks

Some top-ranked stocks from the REIT space are OUTFRONT Media Inc. (NYSE:OUT) , PS Business Parks, Inc. (NYSE:PSB) and Boston Properties, Inc. (NYSE:BXP) , each carrying a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

OUTFRONT Media’s funds from operations (FFO) per share estimates for 2018 have been marginally revised upward to $2.09 in the past 30 days. Its shares have rallied 14.1% over the past 30 days.

PS Business Parks’ Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2018 FFO per share has moved up 0.9% to $6.45 in the past month. Its shares have increased 5.7% over the past month.

Boston Properties’ FFO per share estimates for 2018 have been revised marginally north to $6.39 in 30 days’ time. Its shares have returned 8.5% over the past month.

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