Why STORE Capital Is Beating the Market

Shares of STORE Capital (STOR) are up 8% this year, even as the S&P 500 and iShares US Real Estate ETF (IYR) are down around 10%. The REIT’s CEO Christopher Volk said the outperformance is largely due to the company’s ability to grow, even in a tough environment. 'Last year we increased our dividend by 8%, we increased our balance sheet by 30%,' said Volk. 'We’ve been filling a need and our estimates for 2016 were solid, showing further growth.' STORE Capital Corporation is an internally managed net-lease real estate investment trust (REIT) that specializes in the acquisition, investment and management of Single Tenant Operational Real Estate. STORE recently reported preliminary fourth quarter and full year 2015 results that helped boost its shares. The company will officially release its results on February 22nd. The company said its real estate investment portfolio grew from $2.8 billion in gross investments, representing 947 property locations, on December 31, 2014 to approximately $4 billion in gross investments, representing more than 1,300 property locations, as of December 31, 2015. STORE Capital is currently yielding 4.3%.