iREIT Daily

This Farming REIT is Finally Getting Justice

Brad Thomas

467 postsApril 13, 2022

As I promised yesterday, this morning’s blog covers the latest Consumer Price Index (CPI) report. Dozens of news articles were released yesterday afternoon after the media was able to consume the recently published CPI report. Going through quite a few articles this morning, two items are repeated through them all: Inflation hit a “40-year high”… and rose “8.5% in March.”

Below are just a few article headlines:

CNBC: “Consumer prices rose 8.5% in March, slightly hotter than expected and the highest since 1981”
The New York Times: “CPI Report for March 2022 Puts Inflation at 8.5%”
CNN: “Consumer price inflation hit a new 40-year high in March”
Fox Business: “Inflation surges 8.5% in March, hitting a new 40-year high”
Reuters: “U.S. consumer prices surge on gasoline; inflation likely peaked”
USA Today: “Inflation rose at fastest pace in 40 years in March as consumer prices jumped 8.5%”
The Wall Street Journal: “U.S. Inflation Accelerated to 8.5% in March, Hitting Four-Decade High”

I could go on, but I think you get the picture.

If you click The New York Times article above, it has a great graph showing the inflation spike in 1981 in comparison to the present day. For those who don’t have access, just Google: “CPI inflation percentage in 1981.” Although some results are as low as 10+%, the general consensus is at least 1–2+% above our current inflation spike.

The New York Times graph shows inflation rose above 14% in 1981 vs. today’s 8.5%.

Meanwhile, a Nasdaq.com article showed Mr. Market’s interesting reaction to yesterday’s news:

“… traders seem optimistic that inflation has peaked following the release of the Labor Department’s report on consumer prices in the month of March.”

This positive response is fascinating… And looking at Yahoo! Finance this morning at 9:55 a.m. ET, it seems to be accurate.

Almost everything is climbing. The S&P 500 is at +15.97 (+0.36%), with the DOW at +110.98 (+0.32%) and Nasdaq at +98.03 (+0.73%).

I have some thoughts on this, which I’ll share tomorrow. Don’t get me wrong, I’m happy Mr. Market isn’t crashing… I just wonder if we’re luring ourselves into a false sense of security. I lost millions in the 2008 recession. That pain still stings, and reminds me why my investment of choice is the REIT.

The World According to REITs

The Daily REITBeat is on hiatus until April 25 while the writers are attending conferences. No matter, I will share my own news.

Yesterday afternoon, I interviewed Paul Pittman, the CEO of Farmland Partner Inc. (FPI). As I announced in last Thursday’s blog, I am long FPI and have been following the class action lawsuit for quite some time. I witnessed the beginning of it, and am happy to see justice is finally being served.

Here’s the breakdown from Paul:

As as you know, Brad, this all stemmed from a market manipulation—a short and distorted attack on the company—that occurred in the summer of 2018. And for listeners that might be new to the story, literally, it was a hedge fund and their co-conspirator, in my opinion, who teamed up to write an article: Short the company. Buy short put options on the company… An article that said that me and the other senior members of management are corrupt and self-dealing and loaning ourselves money, and we were insolvent as a company. And just all sorts of horrendous accusations. The stock price the day of that attack dropped 40%.
So from that, we got sued by class action lawyers and their clients. We also have had derivative cases from other shareholder groups. It’s just a legal nightmare for a small company. And you have to defend these cases. And so we did because none of that was, in fact, true. So we get two big developments in the lawsuits over time.
First the author of the article, which was published on Seeking Alpha, admitted last summer that they basically made it all up. You can see on our website, there’s a link that looks at his admission and our press release about it. So that was great because it cleared the air that we didn’t do those things. … But equally important was this class action against the company. Despite the admission of the original author, the class action cases kept going on, and kept, frankly, trying to get a settlement from us to make them go away, because we thought when the author admitted falsehood that those cases would be dropped, but they weren’t.
So we have recently—and this is in the class action cases—just gotten summary judgment, which is a huge victory. The judge wrote a opinion that said none of the things we were accused of are, in fact, true, and that the company basically [has] a clean bill of health and [is] free to go about its business, which is great. I mean, it’s a complete win from our perspective. It was expensive getting there. But between those two things, we’ve largely recovered our reputation and our business. And of course, the recent stock activity suggests investors believe in us and are confident in the company and the company’s vision. So it’s good news. We will continue to pursue, by the way, the hedge fund. And hopefully we can recover some of the money we spent on legal bills, if not more.

All in all, I think Paul Pittman is a great CEO and farmer. And it seems, FPI is finally getting the coverage it deserves. I opened my browser this morning, typed in FPI, and was pleasantly surprised to see that someone else agrees with me.

Check it out: “Farmland Partners Inc. (FPI): The Stock Short Term Indicators Suggest Buy Today.”

Happy Wednesday, everyone! We are halfway through the week!

Happy Investing

Brad Thomas

467 posts

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Brad Thomas is Senior Research Analyst at iREIT and CEO of Wide Moat Research LLC. With over 30 years of real estate experience, he is also long-time Editor of Forbes Real Estate Investor, a monthly subscription-based newsletter that dives deep into the vast world of profitable properties, and since 2021, he has served as an adjunct professor at New York University.

Thomas has also been featured on or in Forbes magazine, Kiplinger's, U.S. News and World Report, Money, NPR, Institutional Investor, GlobeStreet, CNN, Newsmax, and Fox. And he was the #1 contributing analyst on Seeking Alpha in 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020 and 2021 based on both page views and number of followers.

Thomas is the recently-published author of The Intelligent REIT Investor Guide (2021), co-author of The Intelligent REIT Investor (2016), and he wrote The Trump Factor: Unlocking The Secrets Behind The Trump Empire (2016) - all available on Amazon.

Thomas received a bachelor of science in business/economics from Presbyterian College and is married with five wonderful kids.

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REIT Mutual Fund	Symbol
Alpine Realty Income and Growth Fund	AIGYX, AIAGX
American Century Real Estate Fund	REAIX, REACX, AREEX, AREWX, ARYCX, AREDX
Real Estate Securities Fund	MRESX
AR Capital Real Estate Income Fund	ARIAX, ARICX, ARIPX
AssetMark Real Estate Securities Fund	AFREX
Aston/Harrison Street Real Estate Fund	AARIX, ARFCX
Baron Real Estate Fund	BREIX, BREFX
BlackRock Real Estate Securities	BIREX, BAREX, BCREX
Brookfield U.S. Listed Real Estate Fund	BRUAX, BRUCX, BRUIX, BRUYX
CGM Realty Fund	CGMRX
West Loop Realty Fund	REIIX, REIAX, REICX
Cohen & Steers Institutional Realty Shares	CSRIX
Cohen & Steers Realty Income Fund	CSEIX, CSDIX, CSBIX, CSCIX
Cohen & Steers Realty Shares	CSRSX
Columbia Real Estate Equity Fund	CREAX, CREIX, CRRVX, CRERX, CREEX, CRRFX, CREWX, CRECX, CREBX
Compass EMP REC Enhanced Volatility Weighted Fund	CWRAX, CWRIX, CWRTX, CWRCX
Davis Real Estate Fund	RPFRX, DREYX, DRECX, DREBX
Delaware Real Estate Investment Trust Portfolio II	DPRTX, DPRBX
Delaware Real Estate Investment Trust Portfolio	DPREX, DPRSX, DPRRX, DPRCX
DFA Real Estate Securities Portfolio	DFREX
Dunham Real Estate Stock Fund	DAREX, DNREX, DCREX
DWS RREEF Real Estate Securities Fund	RRRRX, RRREX, RRRAX, RRRSX, RRRBX, RRRCX
DWS RREEF Real Estate Securities Income Fund	REFAX, REFCX, REFIX, REFSX
Eaton Vance Real Estate Fund	EAREX, EIREX
EII Realty Securities Fund	EIIRX
Fidelity Advisor Real Estate Fund	FHEIX, FHEAX, FHETX, FHECX, FHEBX
Fidelity Advisor Real Estate Income Fund	FRIRX, FRIQX, FRINX, FRIOX
Fidelity Real Estate Income Fund	FRIFX
Fidelity Real Estate Investment Portfolio	FRESX
Fidelity Spartan Real Estate Index Fund	FSRNX, FRXIX, FSRVX
Fidelity Series Real Estate Equity Fund	FREDX, FREFX
Fidelity Series Real Estate Income Fund	FSREX, FSRWX
Forward Real Estate Long/Short Fund	KSRYX, FRLSX, FFSRX, KSRAX, KSRCX, KSRBX
Forward Real Estate Fund	FPREX, FFREX, KREAX, KRECX
Forward Select Income Fund	KIFYX, FSIMX, FFSLX, KIFAX, KIFBX, KIFCX
Franklin Real Estate Securities Fund	FREEX, FRLAX, FRRSX, FSERX
GMO Real Estate Fund	GMORX
Goldman Sachs Real Estate Securities Fund	GREIX, GRETX, GREAX, GRESX, GRERX, GREBX, GRECX
Great-West Real Estate Fund	MXREX
Heitman REIT Fund	OARTX, OBRTX
ING Real Estate Fund	CRARX, IREWX, IDROX, CLARX, CRWRX, CRCRX, CRBCX
INVESCO Real Estate Fund	REINX, IARFX, IARIX, IARYX, IARAX, IARRX, IARCX, AARBX
Ivy Real Estate Securities Fund	IRSAX, IREIX, IRSYX, IRSRX, IREEX, IRSCX, IRSBX
John Hancock Real Estate Securities Fund	JIREX
Johnson Realty Fund	JRLTX
J.P.Morgan Realty Income Fund	URTLX, JRIRX, URTAX, URTBX, URTCX
J.P. Morgan Security Capital U.S. Core Real Estate Securities Fund	CEEAX, CEERX, CEEFX, CEESX, CEECX
J.P. Morgan U.S. Real Estate Fund	SUSIX
Lazard U.S. Realty Equity Portfolio	LREIX, LREOX
Lazard U.S. Realty Income Portfolio	LRIIX, LRIOX
Manning & Napier Real Estate Series	MNRIX, MNREX
Morgan Stanley Institutional U.S. Real Estate Portfolio	MSUSX, MUSDX, MSULX, MURSX
Natixis AEW Real Estate Fund	NRFAX, NRFYX, NRFBX, NRFCX, NRFNX
Neuberger Berman Real Estate Fund	NBRIX, NBRFX, NREAX, NRERX, NRECX, NRREX
Nuveen Real Estate Securities Fund	FREAX, FARCX, FRSSX, FREBX, FRLCX, FREGX
Oppenheimer Real Estate Fund	OREAX, OREIX, OREYX, ORENX, OREBX, ORECX
PHOCAS Real Estate Fund	PHREX
PIMCO RealEstateRealReturn Strategy Fund	PRRSX, PETPX, PETAX, PETDX, PETCX, PETBX
Pioneer Real Estate Shares	PWREX, PYREX, PCREX, PBREX
Principal Real Estate Securities Fund	PIREX, PIRPX, PREPX, PRETX, PREJX, PRRAX, PRERX, PRENX, PRAEX, PRCEX, PRLEX
ProFunds Real Estate UltraSector ProFund	REPIX
Prudential Select Real Estate Fund	SREAX
Prudential U.S. Real Estate Fund	PJEAX, PJEZX, PJECX, PJEBX
REMS Real Estate Income 50/50 Portfolio	RREIX
REMS Real Estate Value-Opportunity Fund	HLRRX, HLPPX
Rydex Real Estate Fund	RYREX, RYHRX, RYCRX
SA Real Estate Securities Fund	SAREX
SEI Institutional Mgd Real Estate Fund	SETAX, SEIRX
Spirit of America Real Estate Income & Growth Fund	SOAAX
SSgA Clarion Real Estate Fund	SSREX
Stratton Real Estate Fund	STMDX
T.Rowe Price Real Estate Fund	TRREX, PAREX
TIAA-CREF Real Estate Securities Fund	TIREX, TRRPX, TRRSX, TCREX
Vanguard REIT Index Fund	VGSNX, VGRSX, VGSLX, VGSIX
Virtus Real Estate Securities Fund	PHRAX, PHRIX, PHRCX, PHRBX

REIT ETF	Symbol
Flex Shares	ASET
Wisdom Tree Global Ex-US	DRW
S&P 500 Equal Weight	EWRE
iShares FTSE Industrial/Office	FNIO
MSCI Real Estate Index	FREL
S&P REIT Index	FRI
First Trust S&P REIT	FRI
iShares Real Estate 50	FTY
Flexshares Global	GQRE
iShares Cohen & Streers	ICF
iShares International Developed RE	IFGL
iShares US RE	IYR
Premium Yield Equity REIT	KBWY
ETRACS Monthly Pay 2x Leverage	MORL
Market Vector Mortgage	MORT
iShares Global REIT	REET
iShares FTSE Mortgage	REM
iShares Residential	REZ
IQ US Real Estate Small Cap	ROOF
iShares FTSE NAREIT Retail	RTL
DOW Jones Global RE	RWO
SPDR Dow Jones	RWR
Schwab US REIT	SCHH
Super Dividend REIT	SRET
ProShares Ultra RE	URE
Vanguard REIT	VNQ
Vanguard Global ex-US	VNQI
iShares International Developed	WPS
Wilshire US REIT	WREI
Pacer Benchmark Data & Infrastructure RE	SRVR
Pacer Benchmark Industrial RE	INDS
Pacer Benchmark Retail RE	RTL
Hoya Capital Housing	HOMZ
NetLease Corporate RE	NETL

REIT Name	Ticker	Annual Increases/yr
Federal Realty	FRT	51
Universal Health Realty	UHT	33
National Retail Properties	NNN	29
Realty Income	O	27
Tanger Outlets	SKT	26
Urstadt Biddle	UBA	25
Essex Property Trust	ESS	25
W.P.Carey	WPC	22
National Health Investors	NHI	17
Equity Lifestyle	ELS	15
Digital Realty	DLR	15

This Farming REIT is Finally Getting Justice

Brad Thomas

467 postsApril 13, 2022

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This Farming REIT is Finally Getting Justice

467 postsApril 13, 2022

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