Stocks Slide • Troop Build-Up • REIT Dividend Hikes

February 17, 2022 | Hoya Capital

Stocks Slide • Troop Build-Up • REIT Dividend Hikes Real Estate Daily Recap Feb 17 Written By U.S. equity markets finished sharply lower Thursday - erasing their gains for the week - amid intensifying geopolitical tensions on the Russia/Ukraine border and downbeat economic data. Finishing near session-lows and pushing the index back to the cusp of correction territory, the S&P 500 dipped 2.1% today while the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 declined 3.0%.

Real estate equities were among the outperformers today amid a busy stretch of REIT earnings reports as the Equity REIT Index declined 1.1% today with 3-of-19 property sectors in positive-territory. Another four REITs hiked their dividends over the last 24 hours: Equinix, Retail Opportunities, Host Hotels, and NexPoint Real Estate. We've now seen 25 REITs hike their dividend this year following a record 130 dividend hikes in 2021. Independence Realty (IRT) rallied after reporting stellar results.

Driven by double-digit NOI growth and blended leasing spreads of over 15% in Q4, IRT delivered FFO growth of 15.1% in 2021 as rents continue to soar across essentially all segments of the rental markets. Income Builder Daily Recap We recently launched Hoya Capital Income Builder - a premier income-focused investment research service through Seeking Alpha Marketplace - that will be the new exclusive home of all of Hoya Capital's investment research.

Income Builder focuses on real income-producing asset classes that offer the opportunity for diversification, monthly income, capital appreciation, and inflation hedging. If you're not already on board, give us a try with a completely risk-free two-week trial and take a look around. U.S. equity markets finished sharply lower Thursday - erasing their gains for the week - amid intensifying geopolitical tensions on the Russia/Ukraine border and downbeat economic data. Finishing near session-lows and pushing the index back to the cusp of correction territory, the S&P 500 dipped 2.1% today while the tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 declined 3.0%.

The Small-Cap 600 and Mid-Cap ...