Cohen & Steers nearly doubles stake in Omega Healthcare Investors during Q2

Asset management company Cohen & Steers Inc. boosted its holdings in 30 publicly traded US real estate investment trusts and added four new US REIT positions to its portfolio during the second quarter, according to the firm's most recent Form 13F.

During the quarter, Cohen & Steers significantly ramped up its stake in single-tenant retail REIT NNN REIT Inc., increasing its share count to just under 5 million. The holding had a market value of $231.7 million at quarter-end.

Cohen & Steers also nearly doubled its holdings in health care REIT Omega Healthcare Investors Inc., bringing its total to almost 23 million shares. As of June 30, Omega Healthcare Investors was Cohen & Steers' 18th largest holding by market value, at approximately $1.09 billion.

In addition, Cohen & Steers increased its stakes in office REIT SL Green Realty Corp. and health care REIT Sabra Health Care REIT Inc. by more than 50% each.

New stakes

Among the four new REIT positions that Cohen & Steers acquired in the second quarter, the largest was a stake in data center REIT Blackstone Digital Infrastructure Trust Inc., valued at $356.1 million as of June 30. Blackstone Digital Infrastructure Trust completed its IPO on the New York Stock Exchange on May 13.

Cohen & Steers also initiated positions in self-storage REITs CubeSmart and SmartStop Self Storage REIT Inc., valued at $287.4 million and $7.5 million, respectively, at quarter-end.

Additionally, the firm purchased 4.2 million shares in health care REIT American Healthcare REIT Inc., valued at $221.2 million.

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Position decreases, exits

Cohen & Steers reduced its holdings in 25 of its US REIT positions during the second quarter, including three exits.

The firm sold more than 10.5 million shares of office REIT Empire State Realty Trust Inc., nearly eliminating its stake with just 9 shares remaining as of June 30. It also divested nearly all of its holdings in casino REIT VICI Properties Inc., selling over 1.1 million shares and retaining only 2,195 shares at quarter-end.

Additionally, Cohen & Steers trimmed more than 30% of its stakes in both casino REIT Gaming & Leisure Properties Inc. and health care REIT Ventas Inc., and reduced its holdings by more than a quarter in Equity Residential, Kilroy Realty Corp., UDR Inc. and Iron Mountain Inc.

Equity Residential completed its merger with AvalonBay Communities Inc. on Aug. 17, with the combined entity rebranded to Vivmark Residential.

Cohen & Steers fully exited its positions in hotel REIT Apple Hospitality REIT Inc., shopping center REIT SITE Centers Corp. and cold-storage REIT Americold Realty Trust Inc. during the quarter.

Top holdings

Welltower Inc. remained Cohen & Steers' largest holding by market value as of June 30, at $8.36 billion. The asset management firm increased its share count in the health care REIT by another 2.7% during the recent quarter.

Data center REIT Digital Realty Trust Inc. was Cohen & Steers' second-largest holding by market value, at $5.25 billion, followed by industrial REIT Prologis Inc. at $3.09 billion. Communications REIT Crown Castle Inc. and data center REIT Equinix Inc. rounded out the firm's top five holdings, valued at $2.96 billion and $2.28 billion, respectively.

Cohen & Steers' total holdings in specialty REITs — consisting of advertising, casino, communications, data center, timber and information storage REITs — amounted to $17.38 billion as of June 30.

The firm's holdings in health care REITs totaled $11.63 billion at quarter-end, while its holdings in retail and residential REITs stood at $7.41 billion and $6.06 billion, respectively.