Whitestone REIT WSR

Competitive advantage analysis · real-estate

REIT Specialized
Overall moat score
45/100
Developing

Ranked against 37 peers in REIT - Retail

About Whitestone REIT

Whitestone REIT is a community-centered real estate investment trust (REIT) that acquires, owns, operates, and develops open-air, retail centers located in some of the fastest growing markets in the country: Phoenix, Austin, Dallas-Fort Worth, Houston and San Antonio. Our centers are convenience focused: merchandised with a mix of service-oriented tenants providing food (restaurants and grocers), self-care (health and fitness), services … Full WSR analysis →

Key strengths

  • Accretive Growth Track Record Growth appears accretive (score 0.67), suggesting disciplined capital allocation.

Key risks

  • Weak AFFO Coverage AFFO generation is weak (score 0.14), threatening dividend sustainability.
  • Weak NOI Margins NOI margins lag peers (score 0.36), indicating weak pricing power.

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

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Rent Pricing Power

Developing
49
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Signals, strengths and risks for Rent Pricing Power

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Signals, strengths and risks for AFFO Strength

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Signals, strengths and risks for Balance Sheet & Cost of Capital

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Signals, strengths and risks for Capital Recycling & Growth

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Signals, strengths and risks for Operational Efficiency

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Signals, strengths and risks for Portfolio Quality & Diversification

Where WSR ranks in REIT - Retail

Whitestone REIT ranks #19 of 33 scored companies in REIT - Retail by moat score — the top 58%. The widest moat in the group is NNN REIT, Inc. (NNN) at 79/100.

# Company Moat score Rating
15 Federal Realty Investment Trust FRT 55/100 Moderate
16 Kimco Realty Corporation (HC) KIM 52/100 Moderate
17 Alexander & Baldwin, Inc. ALEX 50/100 Moderate
18 Saul Centers, Inc. BFS 46/100 Developing
19 Whitestone REIT WSR 45/100 Developing
20 Phillips Edison & Company, Inc. PECO 42/100 Developing
21 CBL & Associates Properties, In CBL 41/100 Developing
22 NetSTREIT Corp. NTST 39/100 Developing
23 Macerich Company (The) MAC 37/100 Developing

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

How WSR scores on the REIT Specialized defenses

Rent Pricing Power

Score 49 · 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 18 · 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 46 · 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 66 · 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 25 · 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 68 · 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 WSR's moat

What is Whitestone REIT's moat score?

Whitestone REIT (WSR) scores 44 out of 100 on the StatsAlpha Moat Map, which rates its competitive advantage as developing. It ranks #19 of 33 scored companies in REIT - Retail, the top 58%. 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 Portfolio Quality & Diversification (68/100) and its weakest is AFFO Strength (18/100).

How does Whitestone REIT compare with other REIT - Retail companies?

Whitestone REIT ranks #19 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 Saul Centers, Inc. (BFS) at 46 just above it and Phillips Edison & Company, Inc. (PECO) at 42 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 Whitestone REIT 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 Whitestone REIT?

The REIT Specialized template measures 6 defenses, and WSR scores: Rent Pricing Power (49), AFFO Strength (18), Balance Sheet & Cost of Capital (46), Capital Recycling & Growth (66), Operational Efficiency (25), Portfolio Quality & Diversification (68). 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.

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