Here’s Why Baron Funds Invested in Extra Space Storage (EXR)

Baron Funds, an asset management company, released its “Baron Real Estate Income Fund” second quarter 2022 investor letter. A copy of the same can be downloaded here. Baron Real Estate Income Fund (the “Fund”) declined 18.43% (Institutional Shares) in the second quarter of 2022, modestly underperforming its primary benchmark, the MSCI US REIT Index (the “REIT Index”), which declined 17.16%. Go over the fund’s top 5 positions to have a glimpse of its finest picks for 2022.

In its Q2 2022 investor letter, Baron Real Estate Income Fund mentioned Extra Space Storage Inc. (NYSE:EXR) and explained its insights for the company. Founded in 1977, Extra Space Storage Inc. (NYSE:EXR) is a Cottonwood Heights, Utah-based real estate investment trust company with a $26.2 billion market capitalization. Extra Space Storage Inc. (NYSE:EXR) delivered a -18.76% return since the beginning of the year, while its 12-month returns are up by 2.27%. The stock closed at $184.19 per share on September 16, 2022.

Here is what Baron Real Estate Income Fund has to say about Extra Space Storage Inc. (NYSE:EXR) in its Q2 2022 investor letter:

“Following a sharp correction in its share price during the second quarter, we acquired shares in Extra Space Storage Inc. This REIT has assembled the second-largest self-storage portfolio in the country and has the largest portfolio of third-party managed self-storage facilities. In our opinion, Extra Space’s management team is excellent. Over the last decade, management has delivered strong occupancy gains, rent growth, and expense control that has led to a cost of capital advantage relative to its peers. Management has capitalized on its cost of capital advantage by tripling its owned self-storage count since 2010. We believe the long-term growth opportunity for the company remains strong.”

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Our calculations show that Extra Space Storage Inc. (NYSE:EXR) fell short and didn’t make it on our list of the 30 Most Popular Stocks Among Hedge Funds. Extra Space Storage Inc. (NYSE:EXR) was in 27 hedge fund portfolios at the end of the second quarter of 2022, compared to 29 funds in the previous quarter. Extra Space Storage Inc. (NYSE:EXR) delivered a 15.50% return in the past 3 months.

In August 2022, we published an article that includes Extra Space Storage Inc. (NYSE:EXR) in 5 Best Warehouse and Self-Storage Stocks to Buy. You can find other investor letters from hedge funds and prominent investors on our hedge fund investor letters 2022 Q2 page.

Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey.