Planned Growth One of the things that has helped Gables continue to have greater total returns than some of the largest REITs is that its growth has been through internal strategic planning rather than acquisition of other companies, says George L. Ochs, vice president at JPMorganFleming Asset Management. Dividends in 2001 were 2.34, up .14 from 2000.
“The [staff is] conservative and thoughtful in the way they have approached growing the company. They aren’t jumping into markets without first taking a look at how it will incorporate into the existing company,” says Ochs. Using a combination of management and development techniques has helped Gables exceed the total returns of the National Association of Real Estate Investment Trusts (NAREIT) Apartment Index for the past five years.
“In the next five to 10 years, I would like to continue to have our total returns exceed the NAREIT index to an even greater degree than it has,” says Wheeler. “Our ultimate objective as a company is to produce total returns that beat the index.” And to reach that goal, Wheeler plans to figure out a way of developing smaller properties better. Gables believes that this type of housing is what its customers want and by providing it, Gables will be able to outperform its competition.
In addition, the company wants to continue to grow net asset value (NAV) per share. “We can be smaller in terms of units next year and I’d be happy as long as we were growing NAV.”
At the end of the day, Wheeler likes what he’s doing and likes being the guy in charge, he says. “I hope that if I continue to do a good job,” he says, “I can still maintain that privilege of being a leader at Gables.”