USRT: US listed REITs regain their alpha, Piedmont Realty resumes its dividend

The USRT ETF captures alpha YTD 2026 on US-listed REITs. Piedmont Realty restores its dividend - the Sun Belt office starts a FFO catch-up.

The fact

On July 7, 2026, Seeking Alpha published an analysis of USRT (iShares Core U.S. REIT ETF, ~$2B AUM) highlighting the YTD alpha of U.S. REITs against the stock benchmark (art 14304069). The same day, a dividend note on Piedmont Realty Trust (PDM): gradual resumption of payments after several consecutive years of cuts (art 14296716). The movement is visible on the ETF channel (USRT, VNQ) and on Sun Belt office REITs with stabilized occupancy.

Our analysis

The FFO/AFFO reading is selective. Sun Belt office REITs (Piedmont, Highwoods, Cousins) stabilize their vacancies around 12-14%, far from the most stressed CBD sub-markets (San Francisco Financial District, Chicago Loop, office vacancy > 25% according to CBRE Q1 2026). PDM's catch-up is due to three axes: (i) NOI slightly growing on post-2024 leases, (ii) manageable BBB spreads at refinancing, (iii) disciplined LEED CapEx. USRT outperforms because its composition underweights stressed CBD office and overweights residential, self-storage, and healthcare. The Piedmont case remains a special case, not a generalizable signal.

To watch

FFO Q2 Piedmont Realty (calls end of July), delta office occupancy Sun Belt (Highwoods, Cousins), office BBB spreads, weekly ETF flows VNQ/USRT.