Can Federal Realty Bounce Back in 2021?
Federal Realty Investment Trust (NYSE: FRT) increased its dividend in 2020 despite the challenges it faced stemming from the novel coronavirus pandemic and the resulting stay-at-home orders. It was a bold statement that management believed the real estate investment trust (REIT) would survive the pandemic, and perhaps even come out the other side better-positioned than when it entered. All in all, 2021 is likely to be a better year than 2020 in many ways -- but investors still shouldn't go into the new year expecting too much.
Federal Realty owns a collection of around 100 shopping centers and mixed-use developments. That's not a huge number of properties, but they are extremely well located in high-income and densely populated areas. Moreover, many of its properties are anchored by necessity tenants, like grocery stores. So even during the economic shutdowns used to slow the spread of the coronavirus, the REIT's properties have opened in some way, and will likely remain open.
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Source Fool.com
