US REIT at-the-market program usage picks up in Q2 2023

Beginning with S&P Global Market Intelligence's second-quarter 2019 analysis of at-the-market program usage by real estate investment trusts, Market Intelligence included forward at-the-market sales settled during the respective quarter as part of the total capital raised. Forward sales conducted during the quarter but not yet settled as of quarter-end were not included in the quarterly total. Because of this methodology change, prior quarterly totals presented in this article may not match historical articles published by Market Intelligence.

At-the-market program usage by US equity real estate investment trusts increased in the second quarter of 2023, after a slow prior quarter.

US REITs raised $4.74 billion in aggregate during the second quarter, a 52.1% increase from the $3.12 billion raised the quarter prior and a 24.8% increase year over year.

Realty Income continues to top chart with most capital raised

Three REITs — Realty Income Corp., Welltower Inc. and Digital Realty Trust Inc. — accounted for more than 80% of the capital raised by US REITs through at-the-market (ATM) programs in the quarter.

Single-tenant retail REIT Realty Income sold another 20.7 million shares on a forward basis through its ATM program in the second quarter. The REIT also settled 35,475,153 shares of its outstanding forward sale agreements during the quarter for nearly $2.20 billion, the most capital raised of any REIT. As of June 30, Realty Income had approximately 4.9 million shares subject to forward-sale confirmations that have been executed but not settled.

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Healthcare REIT Welltower sold more than 11.8 million shares through its ATM program in the second quarter for $927.6 million in gross proceeds, while datacenter REIT Digital Realty Trust rounded out the top three for the quarter, raising $750.5 million.

Other REITs that raised more than $100 million through their ATM programs in the recent quarter included Omega Healthcare Investors Inc., EastGroup Properties Inc., Agree Realty Corp. and Four Corners Property Trust.

By property sector, single-tenant retail REITs raised the most capital through their ATM programs in the second quarter, with seven single-tenant REITs raising an aggregate $2.55 billion.

While Realty Income accounted for the majority of the total, other single-tenant REITs that utilized their ATM program during the quarter included Agree Realty Corp., Four Corners Property Trust, Essential Properties Realty Trust Inc., Getty Realty Corp. NETSTREIT Corp. and NNN REIT Inc.

The healthcare REIT sector was next with $1.16 billion raised in aggregate, followed by the datacenter REIT sector at $750.5 million.