Easterly Government Properties, Inc.

Greetings and welcome to the Easterly Government Properties fourth quarter 2020 earnings conference call. At this time, all participants are in a listen-only mode. A question and answer session will follow the formal presentation. If anyone should require operator assistance during the conference, please press star zero on your telephone keypad. As a reminder, this conference is being recorded. It is now my pleasure to introduce Lindsay Winterhalter, Vice President, Investor Relations. Thank you. You may begin.

Good morning. Before the call begins, please note the use of forward-looking statements by the company on this conference call. Statements made on this call may include statements which are not historical facts and are considered forward-looking. The company intends these forward-looking statements to be covered by the Safe Harbor provisions for forward-looking statements contained in the Private Securities Litigation Act Reform of 1995, and is making the statement for the purpose of complying with those safe harbor provisions. Although the company believes that its plans, intentions, expectations, strategies, and prospects, as reflected in or suggested by those forward-looking statements, are reasonable, it can give no assurance that these plans, intentions, expectations, or strategies will be attained or achieved. Furthermore, actual results may differ materially from those described in the forward-looking statements and will be affected by a variety of risks and factors that are beyond the company's control, including, without limitation, those contained in Item 1A, Risk Factors, of its annual report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2020, to be filed with the SEC on February 24, 2021, and in its other SEC filings, and risks and uncertainties related to the adverse impact of COVID-19 on the U.S. regional and global economies and the potential adverse impact on the financial condition and results of operation of the company. The company assumes no obligation to update publicly any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise. Additionally, on this conference call, the company may refer to certain non-GAAP financial measures, such as funds from operation, funds from operations as adjusted, and cash available for distribution. You can find a tabular reconciliation of these non-GAAP financial measures to the most comparable current GAAP numbers in the company's earnings release and separate supplemental information package on the investor relations page of the company's website at ir.easterlyrate.com. I would now like to turn the conference call over to Daryl Crate, Chairman of Easterly Government Properties.

Thank you, Lindsay. Good morning, everyone, and thank you for joining us for this fourth quarter conference call. Today, in addition to Lindsay, I'm also joined by Bill Trimble, the company's CEO, and Megan Bevere, the company's CFO and COO. We're pleased with our results for 2020. We exceeded our acquisition targets, furthered our development efforts, successfully negotiated our anticipated renewals, all in the face of COVID-19 and its myriad of challenges. Our portfolio has 79 properties up approximately 13% and 7.3 million square feet up approximately 12% as compared to last year. The team has also done an impressive job in building our acquisition and development pipelines for 2021, which will enable us to deliver the consistent, stable growth that our investors have come to anticipate from our young portfolio of mission-critical facilities with leases backed by the full faith and credit of the United States government. As we look forward, we anticipate a long-term return for our investors of 7% as measured by growth in FFO and dividends paid. We continue to target 2% to 3% annual FFO growth per share, coupled with a roughly 4% to 5% dividend yield. As you know, Easterly is somewhat uniquely positioned relative to other REITs to have insights into the long-term, steady growth potential of our portfolio. We intend for investors to appreciate this consistency and to continue to reward us with an attractive cost of capital. In addition to enhancing our portfolio and forward opportunities in 2020, we continue to elevate our profile as a leader in important ESG metrics. As you may recall, we founded our business in early private equity years with a portfolio of buildings, many with platinum, gold, and silver LEED certifications. With the new Biden administration, we will continue to work with the government to enhance the energy efficiency of our portfolio. This is good for the environment and good for shareholders. It enhances our sustainability metrics while also encouraging investment in our facilities. as we also continue to focus on enhancing diversity on the board and at all levels in the organization in a way that positions our business to be facing our clients, the government, and investors that is constructive, progressive, and consistent with our times. Lastly, I want to thank our management team and our board for their dedication and tireless effort this year to enable us to deliver consistent results for our shareholders. 2020 was a unique year, and I'm proud of the way we weathered the challenge and I'm particularly pleased with how we are positioned as the economy and the new administration move forward. With that, I'll turn the call over to Bill to give you insights into the 2020 results.