MLV & Co Initiates Coverage On QTS Realty Trust On Laying The Foundation For Many Years Of Growth

In a report published Thursday, MLV & Co analyst Jonathan Petersen initiated coverage on QTS Realty Trust QTS with a Buy rating and $45.00 price target. In the report, MLV & Co noted, "We are initiating coverage of QTS with a BUY rating and a $45 price target. QTS has a knack for finding infrastructure-rich real estate that is prime for data center redevelopment (such as old semiconductor factories, or print press facilities) -- this real estate was usually bought for a fraction of the capital that has been invested in it. Whether QTS can continue to find these opportunities is not much of a concern because the company can more than double it's revenue by building out the properties it already owns. Additionally, QTS owns adjacent land to many of its facilities, which further provides growth opportunities. We expect QTS to report FFO/sh growth far above DLR and DFT over the next two years, but the company still trades at an implied cap rate that is ~100 bps higher -- this wide valuation gap gives us confidence that QTS' stock has plenty of room to run." QTS Realty Trust closed on Wednesday at $39.26.