NAV Monitor: US equity REITs close 2020 at median 3.9% discount to NAV

Editor's note: This Data Dispatch is updated monthly and was last published Dec. 3, 2020. The analysis includes current publicly traded U.S. equity real estate investment trusts that trade on the Nasdaq, NYSE or NYSE American with market capitalizations of at least $200 million. Click here to download these charts in Excel format.

Publicly traded U.S. equity REITs closed 2020 at a median 3.9% discount to their consensus S&P Global Market Intelligence net asset value per-share estimates.

The data center sector traded at the largest premium to NAV, at a median of 13.1%. Equinix Inc., the largest data center REIT by market capitalization, closed the year at $714.18 per share, 23.3% higher than its consensus NAV estimate of $579.43. Meanwhile, CyrusOne Inc. ended the year at a premium of 14.5% and CoreSite Realty Corp. closed at a premium of 13.1%.

The self-storage sector followed closely, trading at a median premium of 12.7%, while healthcare and hotel sectors followed at 11.2% and 9.0%, respectively.

In contrast, office REITs traded at the largest discount to NAV, closing the year at a median of 30.2%. The regional mall and shopping center sectors followed closely behind, at median discounts of 28.3% and 16.0%, respectively.

Office REIT Franklin Street Properties Corp. traded at the second highest discount to NAV among all U.S. equity REITs above $200 million market capitalization, at 49.3%. Within the same sector, Office Properties Income Trust and Empire State Realty Trust Inc. followed at discounts of 41.8% and 41.6%, respectively. These two office landlords join Franklin Street on the list of REITs with the largest discounts across all sectors at year-end.