Real Estate Fund AEW Capital’s 13F Holdings Boast Solid Gains

Moving on to AEW Capital Management’s second-largest equity holding at the beginning of 2016, Public Storage (NYSE:PSA). The fund increased its holding in the REIT by 4% to 1.38 million shares during the fourth quarter worth $342.44 million, as of December 31. Among the stocks discussed in this article, Public Storage (NYSE:PSA) was the best performer during the first quarter, ending the quarter with gains of over 12%. Moreover, it has also been one of the best performing REIT in the past one year, appreciating 40.5% in value during that time. While those gains are great for investors who have held the stock for a long time, they might have reduced the appeal of the stock for potential investors because they have brought down Public Storage (NYSE:PSA)’s annual dividend yield to 2.5% currently. One of the main reasons that Public Storage has managed to outperform most of its peers for past several quarters is because the management of the REIT has a strong aversion to debt. According to its last quarterly results, its debt to equity stood at only 3.7%. Most analysts currently have a favorable outlook on the stock due to the low debt on the REIT’s balance sheet and the expected growth in the self-storage industry.

Real estate behemoth Simon Property Group Inc (NYSE:SPG) has been AEW Capital Management’s largest equity holding for the past many quarters. Like all the other stocks mentioned in this article, the fund also increased its stake in Simon Property Group Inc (NYSE:SPG) during the fourth quarter, by 4% to nearly 3.22 million shares. Notable investors that reduced their stakes in the company during that period included billionaire Israel Englander‘s Millenium Management, which brought its holding down by 32% to 420,719 shares. After continuously trading between the $180-$200 levels for many months, shares of Simon Property Group Inc (NYSE:SPG) managed to break above the $200 mark for the first time convincingly during the first quarter of this year and ended the quarter with gains of 7.77%. Simon Property Group is also expected to report its first quarter numbers by the end of this month and the consensus among analysts includes EPS of $2.54 on revenue of $1.29 billion for the quarter versus EPS of $2.28 on revenue of $1.22 billion the company reported for the same quarter last year. The stock currently sports an average rating of ‘Buy’ and an average price target of $225.

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