Wheeler Real Estate Investment WHLR

Competitive advantage analysis · real-estate

REIT Specialized
Overall moat score
32/100
Developing

About Wheeler Real Estate Investment

Cedar Realty Trust, Inc. is a Maryland corporation (taxed as a real estate investment trust) that focuses on owning and operating income producing retail properties with a primary focus on grocery-anchored shopping centers. Wheeler Real Estate Investment Trust, Inc. was founded in 2011 and is headquartered in Virginia Beach, Virginia. Full WHLR analysis →

Competitive advantage assessment

Key strengths

  • Strong NOI Margins NOI margins are strong (score 0.72), demonstrating rent pricing power.
  • Efficient Property Management Property management is efficient (score 0.72).

Key risks

  • Weak AFFO Coverage AFFO generation is weak (score 0.08), threatening dividend sustainability.
  • Elevated Leverage Risk Leverage is elevated (score 0.22), raising refinancing risk.

The dashed ring is the peer median. Defense scores are percentile ranks against peers, so 50 is roughly the typical company in this group.

Upgrade to unlock the signals and evidence behind each defense.

Premium access

Unlock full defense analysis

Get key signals, strengths, and risks for every moat dimension.

Upgrade to Premium Unlock all moat defenses and evidence.

Rent Pricing Power

Moderate
62

Where WHLR ranks in REIT - Retail

Wheeler Real Estate Investment ranks #28 of 33 scored companies in REIT - Retail by moat score — the top 85%. The widest moat in the group is NNN REIT, Inc. (NNN) at 79/100.

Moat scores for companies ranked near WHLR in REIT - Retail
# Company Moat score Rating
24 Alexander's, Inc. ALX 37/100 Developing
25 Urban Edge Properties UE 36/100 Developing
26 Wheeler Real Estate Investment WHLRP 34/100 Developing
27 Wheeler Real Estate Investment WHLRD 34/100 Developing
28 Wheeler Real Estate Investment WHLR 32/100 Developing
29 Kite Realty Group Trust KRG 32/100 Developing
30 Acadia Realty Trust AKR 31/100 Developing
31 SITE Centers Corp. SITC 26/100 Developing
32 Alpine Income Property Trust, I PINE 19/100 Weak

See every Real Estate Investment Trusts company ranked by moat score →

How WHLR scores on the REIT Specialized defenses

Rent Pricing Power

Score 62 · 20% of the moat score

For a REIT, pricing power is the ability to raise rents at renewal and still keep the space occupied.

AFFO Strength

Score 9 · 18% of the moat score

AFFO — adjusted funds from operations — is the cash a REIT can actually distribute after the recurring capital spending buildings need in order to stay leasable.

Balance Sheet & Cost of Capital

Score 19 · 20% of the moat score

Real estate is bought with borrowed money, so a REIT's cost of capital is its competitive advantage.

Capital Recycling & Growth

Score 26 · 16% of the moat score

REITs grow by issuing shares and debt to buy more property, which creates value only when the yield on the asset exceeds the cost of the capital raised.

Operational Efficiency

Score 40 · 14% of the moat score

Running property — leasing, maintenance, taxes, management — is the part of the business a REIT genuinely controls.

Portfolio Quality & Diversification

Score 38 · 12% of the moat score

Portfolio quality is really a question about what happens when a tenant fails.

How each REIT Specialized defense is measured, in full →

Understanding WHLR's moat

What is Wheeler Real Estate Investment 's moat score?

Wheeler Real Estate Investment (WHLR) scores 32 out of 100 on the StatsAlpha Moat Map, which rates its competitive advantage as developing. It ranks #28 of 33 scored companies in REIT - Retail, the top 85%. The score is a weighted composite of 6 competitive defenses, each measured against industry peers of 37 companies in REIT - Retail. Its strongest defense is Rent Pricing Power (62/100) and its weakest is AFFO Strength (9/100).

How does Wheeler Real Estate Investment compare with other REIT - Retail companies?

Wheeler Real Estate Investment ranks #28 of 33 scored companies in REIT - Retail by moat score. The widest moat in REIT - Retail is NNN REIT, Inc. (NNN) at 79/100. The companies ranked closest are Wheeler Real Estate Investment (WHLRD) at 34 just above it and Kite Realty Group Trust (KRG) at 32 just below it.

How is the moat score calculated?

Each company is scored with an industry-specific template — REIT Specialized in this case, chosen because the defenses that matter to a bank are not the ones that matter to a software company. Every defense combines several financial signals, and each signal is measured as a percentile against a peer group of 37 companies in REIT - Retail. The defenses are then weighted to produce the overall score out of 100.

Why is Wheeler Real Estate Investment scored with the REIT Specialized template?

A REIT is a portfolio of buildings financed with debt and required to distribute most of its taxable income. Reported earnings are dominated by depreciation on assets that often appreciate, so net income says very little; the real question is how much cash the properties distribute, and how securely. The REIT template scores what determines that: rent pricing, distributable cash, cost of capital, and the discipline behind growth.

Which competitive defenses are measured for Wheeler Real Estate Investment ?

The REIT Specialized template measures 6 defenses, and WHLR scores: Rent Pricing Power (62), AFFO Strength (9), Balance Sheet & Cost of Capital (19), Capital Recycling & Growth (26), Operational Efficiency (40), Portfolio Quality & Diversification (38). Each is scored independently as a percentile against peers, so a company can be strong on one and weak on another — the overall score reflects how those defenses are weighted for this industry.

Send Feedback
Please select a category.
0/1000