AEW Capital sells out Phillips Edison, trims holdings in 28 US REITs

AEW Capital Management LP slashed its share count in 28 of its existing positions during the second quarter and completely sold out its half a million shares in shopping center real estate investment trust Phillips Edison & Co. Inc., valued at $16.8 million the quarter prior, according to the asset management firm's latest Form 13F filing.

Almost 85% share cut in Healthpeak Properties, more than 50% cutbacks in 3 other REITs

The Boston-based money manager's largest cut during the second quarter was in Healthpeak Properties Inc., selling off 84.6% of its stake. AEW Capital now holds 104,970 shares in the healthcare REIT, which was valued at $2.1 million as of June 30, making it the firm's smallest holding.

In addition, the firm also heavily slashed its share count in three other REITs, including office-focused Alexandria Real Estate Equities Inc. by 74.6%, multifamily REIT Veris Residential Inc. by 62.5% and self-storage-focused Life Storage Inc. by 60.7%. Life Storage was recently acquired by fellow self-storage REIT Extra Space Storage Inc. in an all-stock deal that was completed July 20.

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Doubling down on Broadstone Net Lease, Essential Properties Realty

AEW Capital boosted its share count in its remaining 18 positions. The management firm upped its stake in diversified REIT Broadstone Net Lease Inc. by 122.6% to 844,060 shares, valued at $13.0 million at quarter-end. It also raised its stake in single tenant-focused Essential Properties Realty Trust Inc. by 109.6% to 740,564 shares, valued at $17.4 million.

The firm increased the share count of three other positions by more than 50%: communications-focused American Tower Corp. at 90.4%, industrial REIT Rexford Industrial Realty Inc. at 62.9% and office landlord Cousins Properties Inc. at 53.3%.

Prologis still the largest holding

As of June 30, AEW Capital held positions in 46 publicly traded real estate companies valued at $2.60 billion in the aggregate, according to an S&P Global Market Intelligence analysis.

Industrial REIT Prologis Inc. still is the firm's largest position by market value, at $309.2 million, followed by datacenter-focused Equinix Inc. and multifamily REIT AvalonBay Communities Inc., valued at $242.1 million and $148.9 million, respectively.

By property sector, AEW Capital had the largest exposure to residential REITs as of June 30, valued at nearly $672.2 million, almost 26% of the company's total REIT holdings.

The industrial and specialty sectors followed, valued at $500.2 million and $481.8 million, respectively.