The Top REITs That Mutual Funds Are Buying And Selling

• A new Citi Research report looks at REIT ownership trends in the past year.
• Mutual funds account for more than a third of total REIT ownership.
• Both general mutual funds and REIT-specific funds made major positional adjustments in the past year.

Citi Research recently released a huge report that takes an in-depth look into recent trends in REIT ownership. In the report, analyst Michael Bilerman breaks down the top names that are held by the biggest REIT investors in the market.

Who’s Buying?

Overall, retail investors account for only about 15 percent of REIT ownership. By comparison, mutual funds account for 37 percent. Citi revealed recent trends in both general mutual funds and REIT-dedicated mutual funds.

General Mutual Funds

According to the report, actively managed general mutual funds were buying Prologis Inc (NYSE: PLD), Ventas, Inc. (NYSE: VTR) and Macerich Co (NYSE: MAC) more than any other REITS in the past 12 months. On the other hand, the most sold names by these funds during the same time period were Home Properties, Inc. (NYSE: HME), Equity Residential (NYSE: EQR) and DCT Industrial Trust Inc (NYSE: DCT).

Currently, the three largest REIT positions that these funds hold are Simon Property Group Inc (NYSE: SPG), Public Storage (NYSE: PSA) and Ventas Inc (NYSE: VTR).

REIT-Dedicated Mutual Funds

In the past year, the top names that REIT-dedicated funds were buying include Macerich, Pennsylvania R.E.I.T. (NYSE: PEI) and Regency Centers Corp (NYSE: REG). The largest position size decreases were WP Glimcher Inc (NYSE: WPG) and EastGroup Properties Inc (NYSE: EGP).

Overall, the largest holdings among REIT-dedicated funds are Simon Property Group, SL Green Realty Corp (NYSE: SLG), and Equity Residential.

Disclosure: the author holds no position in the stocks mentioned.