STIFEL: KRC ($72.63, Buy) - Gold Rush in San Francisco; Target Price $80/sh; Maintain Buy

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FULL REPORT
FULL MODEL

Gold Rush in San Francisco; Target Price $80/sh; Maintain Buy

  • We have chosen to run the numbers by hand and have come up with the following conclusion: selling a 44% interest in two assets for $508mm ($1.155B at 100%), a value over 2.7x the cost to acquire the assets, creates value and increases NAV.
  • Kilroy acquired the two assets, 303 Second and 100 First Street, in 2010 for $354/SF. The just announced joint venture values these two assets at $963/SF and a quoted 'low 4%' cash cap rate.
  • We think the transaction underscores the willingness of offshore global capital to pay very full prices for assets in barrier-to-entry markets and make major investments in Gateway City office REITs. We expect additional similar investments to occur selectively throughout our coverage.

 

  • After adjusting our estimates for this transaction, we are increasing our target price to $80/sh. The new target price equates to 2017E FFO/FAD/sh multiples of 22.5x/35.4x, a 4.8% implied NOI cap rate and a TEV of $637/SF, versus our estimate of adjusted replacement cost of $538/SF.

 

  • We estimate that Kilroy Realty currently trades at very reasonable real estate valuation metrics: 1) 5.3%/4.5%/3.8% for Implied NOI, Cash Flow, and CF less G&A Cap Rates. TEV/SF of $584/SF is also reasonable relative to our estimates of $620/$538/SF for gross/adjusted replacement cost. Finally, KRC trades at a 16%/6% discount to our 4.5%-5.0% NAV range.

 

  • This accentuates the pivotal question with REIT valuations -- does a discount to NAV and other attractive real estate valuations offset historically high FFO/FAD multiples?

 

 

  • While clearly Net Asset Value accretive, the transaction will result in cash staying on the balance sheet until spent on development, and near term earnings dilution.

 

  • We are adjusting 2016 FFO/FAD/sh estimates to $3.38/$2.19 from $3.40/$2.21 and our 2017 FFO/FAD/sh to $3.55/$2.26 from $3.57/$2.27. We estimate the normalized 2015-2017 FFO/FAD growth to be 5.0%/7.7%.

Target Price Methodology/Risks

  • Our target price of $80/sh, equates to 22.5x/35.4x on our updated 2017 FFO/FAD/sh estimates of $3.55/$2.26 and an implied NOI cap rate of 4.8%.
  • Risks to achieving our target price include development and lease-up risk, tech bubble fears, interest rate and general economic risk.