Forward Management Bet Big On These REITs Ahead Of Its Merger With Salient

Next up is Franklin Street Properties Corp. (NYSEMKT:FSP), in which Forward Management inched down its stake to 3.60 million shares, worth $46.1 million. The $1.17-billion market cap real estate investment trust is focused on investing in office properties in the United States. Franklin Street Properties Corp. (NYSEMKT:FSP) seems to be in a strong financial position, with its first-quarter 2015 revenue increasing to $12.5 million from $3.6 million in the same period last year. Shares of Franklin Street Properties Corp. (NYSEMKT:FSP) have increased by 7.63% during the past 12 months, compared to the industry average of 11.26%. Franklin Street Properties Corp. (NYSEMKT:FSP) is also a favorite stock of Ken Griffin’s Citadel Investment Group, which upped its stake in the company during the first quarter to 511,071 shares.

The third-largest holding of Forward Management as of March 31 was in Stag Industrial Inc (NYSE:STAG), though the fund reduced its position in the company by over 30% to 1.84 million shares, valued at $43.3 million. Stag Industrial Inc (NYSE:STAG) is also a real estate investment trust (REIT), engaged in the acquisition and management of single-tenant, industrial properties in the United States, and has a market cap of $1.37 billion. Stag Industrial Inc (NYSE:STAG) posted a net loss of $1.4 million for the first quarter. The company’s occupancy rate was 94.4% at the end of the first quarter, a slight decline from 94.9% quarter-over-quarter. Last month, Stag Industrial Inc (NYSE:STAG) announced a 2.2% increase to its monthly common stock dividend, to $0.12 per common share, for a yield of 6.48%. Stag Industrial Inc (NYSE:STAG)’s stock decreased by just over 13% during the past calendar year. Another investor of the company is Cloud Gate Capital, led by Brian Newman and David Heller, which holds 228,043 shares as of the end of the first quarter.

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