Article Excerpt:
TWST: Would you bring us up to date on Monmouth Real Estate Investment Corporation and its affiliated companies?Mr. Landy: Monmouth Real Estate Investment Corporation (MNRTA) is an industrial REIT focusing on long-term leases secured by investment grade tenants. Monmouth REIT now has 4.25 million square feet of gross leasable area, with about one-third of that leased to FedEx. We have been able to grow the size of the company over the past five years in a very meaningful way. United Mobile Homes (UMH), also a REIT, specializes in the manufactured housing sector. Both United and Monmouth Real Estate are two of the oldest REITs around. These REITs were formed in 1968. The REIT Act was passed in 1960, and very few existing REITs date back to that era. We have built long-term relationships with much of our shareholder base.As for recent developments, United Mobile Homes was awarded the Dividend Achiever award in 2004 for paying 10 or more consecutive years of rising dividends. I am happy to report that we are now in our 14th year of increasing our dividend. United's common equity is 'A' ranked by Standard & Poor's and our long-term track record of dividend growth is certainly a part of this. Monmouth Capital Corporation (MONM), our third REIT, is the smallest of the three companies. It was formed in 1961 as a small business investment company, and it elected REIT status in 2001. So it is a newly formed REIT. Monmouth Capital focuses on properties that don't fit the business plans of United Mobile Homes and Monmouth Real Estate. Currently, Monmouth Capital Corporation has eight industrial properties located in seven different states. These industrial properties didn't fit the strict criteria that Monmouth Real Estate adheres to because they are either joint ventures, shorter-term leases, or non-investment grade tenants. Monmouth Capital also has approximately 20% of its total assets invested in REIT securities. Ideally we would like to have around 10% of our assets invested in third-party REIT securities. The challenge for Monmouth Capital will be to grow the company to a level where it can operate more efficiently as a public REIT.
Tickers included in this excerpt: MNRTA, MONM, RT, UMH
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