Getty Realty Corporation

Good morning and welcome to Getty Realty's Earnings Conference call for the third quarter 2023. This call is being recorded. After the presentation, there will be an opportunity to ask questions. Prior to starting the call, Joshua Dicker, Executive Vice President, General Counsel, and Secretary of the company will read a safe harbor statement and provide information about non-GAAP financial measures. Please go ahead, Mr. Dicker.

Thank you, Operator. I would like to thank you all for joining us for Getty Realty's third quarter earnings conference call. Yesterday afternoon, the company released its financial and operating results for the quarter ended September 30, 2023. Form 8K and earnings release are available in the investor relations section of our website at gettyrealty.com. Certain statements made in the course of this call are not based on historical information and may constitute forward-looking statements. These statements are based on management's current expectations and beliefs and are subject to trends, events, and uncertainties that could cause actual results that differ materially from those described in the forward-looking statements. Examples of forward-looking statements include our 2023 guidance and may also include statements made by management including those regarding the company's future operations, future financial performance, or investment plans and opportunities. We caution you that such statements reflect our best judgment based on factors currently known to us and that actual events or results could differ materially. I refer you to the company's annual report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2022, and our subsequent filings made with the SEC for a more detailed discussion the risks and other factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied in any forward-looking statements made today. You should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements, which reflect our view only as of the day hereof. The company undertakes no duty to update any forward-looking statements that may be made in the course of this call. Also, please refer to our earnings release for a discussion of our use of non-GAF financial measures including our definition of adjusted funds from operations or AFFO and our reconciliation of those measures to net earnings. With that, let me turn the call over to Christopher Constance, our Chief Executive Officer.

Thank you, Josh. Good morning, everyone, and welcome to our earnings call for the third quarter of 2023. Joining us on the call today are Mark O'Lear, our Chief Operating Officer, and Brian Dickman, our Chief Financial Officer. I will lead off today's call by providing commentary on our financial results and investment activities, along with some perspective on our outlook in light of the ongoing economic uncertainty. As usual, Mark will then take you through our portfolio, and Brian will further discuss our financial results and guidance. In the third quarter, we produced strong AFFO per share growth of 5.6%, and for the nine months ended September 30th, our AFFO per share grew a healthy 5.7%. This growth continues to be driven by our robust investment activity and thoughtful capital markets execution. Year-to-date, we have surpassed the company's previous record for annual investments by deploying 269 million, including 155 million in the third quarter. We also continue to maintain an attractive investment pipeline with more than 95 million under contract for the acquisition and development funding of convenience stores, auto service centers, and express tunnel car washes, all of which we expect to fund over the next six to nine months. When combined with our investments to date, our pipeline provides visibility into our earnings for the fourth quarter and our growth prospects for the next year. The ongoing success of our investment platform and steady growth in our cash flow and earnings can be attributed in part to our successful capital markets activity. Since January of 2022, we have raised more than $600 million of attractively priced capital, much of it with a forward or delayed draw execution, including our recently announced $150 million unsecured term loan, $225 million of long-term unsecured notes, and more than $230 million of common equity. Our strategic approach to raising capital has enhanced our ability to lock in creative investment spreads, support a committed investment pipeline that is fully funded, and maintain a balance sheet with moderate leverage and ample capacity for future transactions. We believe that Getty's business model of focusing on convenience and automotive retail assets provides us with a competitive advantage in the market, given our sector expertise, tenant relationships, and track record of execution. Many of our completed transactions this year have come from repeat business, meaning we already have a lease in place with our counterparty and are capitalizing on our relationships and transaction experience to bring new properties into the company's portfolio with tenants that are well known to us and who have a proven record of performance through economic cycles. We have also successfully increased our initial yields with these tenants to reflect current market pricing while not sacrificing our rigorous underwriting standards. The net result is that we continue to buy the same quality properties in sectors where we have a significant knowledge of industry trends, and with tenants we know well, but have prices that reflect the rapid rise in financing costs. As we look beyond our pipeline of deal activity, the real estate market has changed significantly since the end of the second quarter. Rapid changes in the availability and cost of capital have outpaced sellers' expectations for the value of their property. For Getty specifically, we believe prospective tenants who are often making long-term financing decisions related to M&A or development are in the process of reevaluating their capital structures to reflect less access to capital and lower values attributable to real estate financing. While we continue to identify opportunities to acquire assets that meet our rigorous underwriting standards, we expect to be disciplined in our capital deployment while the market continues to fully digest the reality of higher cap rates for the foreseeable future. Given our performance year to date, committed and funded investment pipeline and earnings growth expectations, our board approved an increase of 4.7% in our recurring quarterly dividend to 45 cents per share. This represents the 10th straight year we have grown the dividend alongside our earnings growth. Our board believes this annual increase is appropriate a stable payout ratio and continues to increase Getty's retained cash flows to have more investable capital to meet our growth objectives. Additionally, as a result of our year-to-date investment in capital activities, we are raising our 2023 ASFO guidance by a penny to $2.24 to $2.25 per share. Getty is well positioned for the current environment, given the essential nature of our the operating strength of our institutional tenant base, and our well-positioned balance sheet, including low to moderate leverage and ample liquidity. In a challenging market, we believe that we benefit from the targeted nature of our investment strategy due to our sector expertise and strong relationships with operators in our space. Our disciplined approach, which emphasizes owning high-quality real estate in major metro areas and partnering with growing regional and national operators, continue to afford us with attractive acquisition and development funding opportunities to underwrite. As a result, we remain confident in our ability to create shareholder value through earnings growth and portfolio diversification. With that, I'll turn the call over to Mark to discuss our portfolio and investment activities.