Cohen & Steers cuts stakes in almost 50% of REITs, boosts stake in Rexford in Q1

New York-based investment manager Cohen & Steers Inc. cut its share count almost in half of its US real estate investment trust common stock holdings during the first quarter of 2024 while selling five other REIT positions, according to its latest Form 13F filing.

The total value of Cohen & Steers' US REIT portfolio declined by 4.6% sequentially in the first quarter to $42.23 billion as of March 31. Apart from reducing share count in 21 of its current 44 REIT holdings and exiting five other REIT holdings, the decline in market value was also due to the drop in the share price in 28 of these REITs during the quarter.

Exits 5, trims stakes in 21

Single-tenant REIT Spirit Realty Capital Inc. was acquired by Realty Income Corp. on Jan. 23. As of the fourth quarter of 2023, Cohen & Steers owned more than 13.2 million shares in Spirit Realty Capital, a stake worth approximately $578 million.

The investment manager also divested all its stakes in healthcare-focused Medical Properties Trust Inc., diversified REIT Broadstone Net Lease Inc., self-storage REIT CubeSmart and office landlord Net Lease Office Properties.

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During the same period, Cohen & Steers also sold about 81.2% of its entire stake in communications REIT SBA Communications Corp. As of March 31, the investment manager's stake in the REIT was valued at $164.7 million.

Other notable decreases were with residential REIT Mid-America Apartment Communities Inc., with the firm selling 78.1% of its stake, as well as healthcare-focused Ventas Inc., where it sold 66.4% of its stake.

The asset manager also slashed its share count by 53.9% in advertising REIT Lamar Advertising Co., retaining over 400,000 shares valued at $51.1 million as of March 31.

Steep boost for Rexford Industrial Realty; new stake in Healthpeak Properties

Among Cohen & Steers' existing holdings, industrial-focused Rexford Industrial Realty Inc. got a massive share count boost to 1,461,104 during the first quarter, valued at $73.5 million. The firm's share counts for timber REITs Weyerhaeuser Co. and Rayonier Inc. were increased by fourfold each, while the share count for shopping center-focused Kite Realty Group Trust more than doubled.

The investment firm also gave significant share boosts to self-storage REIT Public Storage and multifamily-focused Essex Property Trust Inc., with share count hikes of 73.9% and 63.5%, respectively.

Healthcare REIT Healthpeak Properties Inc. was Cohen & Steers' sole new position, purchasing 7.5 million shares valued at $141.4 million at quarter-end. The healthcare REIT completed a merger of equals with Physicians Realty Trust on March 1.

Largest holdings by market value

As of March 31, Cohen & Steers held positions in 44 US equity REITs, valued at $42.23 billion, down from the previous quarter's $44.29 billion.

Although the investment manager reduced share count in industrial REIT Prologis Inc. by 5.9% during the first quarter, Prologis remained Cohen & Steers' largest REIT holding by market value at $3.75 billion.

Healthcare REIT Welltower Inc. and communications REIT American Tower Corp. also retained their second and third ranks from the subsequent period, valued at $3.69 billion and $3.50 billion, respectively.

Property sector exposure

Cohen & Steers held the highest exposure to specialty REITs, a category that includes advertising, casino, communications, datacenter and timber REITs, accounting for $14.88 billion. Within the specialty space, the firm's datacenter REIT holdings totaled $5.43 billion, while its holdings in communication REITs amounted to $5.27 billion.

The residential sector, largely composed of multifamily-focused REITs, came in second with holdings amounting to $7.71 billion.