Organization and Accounting Policies

6 Months Ended

Mar. 31, 2016

Organization, Consolidation and Presentation of Financial Statements [Abstract]

Organization and Accounting Policies

NOTE 1 – ORGANIZATION AND ACCOUNTING POLICIES

Monmouth Real Estate Investment Corporation, a Maryland corporation, together with its consolidated subsidiaries (MREIC, the Company, or we), operates as a real estate investment trust (REIT) deriving its income primarily from real estate rental operations. As of March 31, 2016, the Company owned ninety-four properties with total square footage of approximately 14,551,000 as compared to ninety-one properties with total square footage of approximately 13,919,000 as of September 30, 2015. These properties are located in twenty-nine states: Alabama, Arizona, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia and Wisconsin. The Company also owns a portfolio of REIT investment securities which the Company generally limits to no more than approximately 10% of its undepreciated assets.

The Company has elected to be taxed as a REIT under Sections 856-860 of the Internal Revenue Code (the Code), and intends to maintain its qualification as a REIT in the future. As a qualified REIT, with limited exceptions, the Company will not be taxed under Federal and certain state income tax laws at the corporate level on taxable income that it distributes to its shareholders. For special tax provisions applicable to REITs, refer to Sections 856-860 of the Code. The Company is subject to franchise taxes in several of the states in which the Company owns property.

The interim Consolidated Financial Statements furnished herein have been prepared in accordance with Accounting Principles Generally Accepted in the United States of America (U.S. GAAP) applicable to interim financial information, the instructions to Form 10-Q, and Article 10 of Regulation S-X. Accordingly, they do not include all of the information and footnotes required by U.S. GAAP for complete financial statements. In the opinion of management, all adjustments (consisting of normal recurring accruals) considered necessary for a fair presentation have been included. Operating results for the three and six months ended March 31, 2016 are not necessarily indicative of the results that may be expected for the year ending September 30, 2016. For further information, refer to the Consolidated Financial Statements and footnotes thereto included in the Company’s annual report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended September 30, 2015.

Use of Estimates

In preparing the financial statements in accordance with U.S. GAAP, management is required to make certain estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities at the date of the financial statements and the reported amounts of revenues and expenses during the reporting periods and related disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities. Actual results could differ from these estimates and assumptions.

Reclassification

Certain prior period amounts in the accompanying Consolidated Financial Statements have been reclassified to conform to the current period’s presentation.

Lease Termination Income

Lease Termination Income is recognized in operating revenues when there is a signed termination agreement, all of the conditions of the agreement have been met, the tenant is no longer occupying the property and the termination consideration is probable of collection. Lease termination amounts are paid by tenants who want to terminate their lease obligations before the end of the contractual term of the lease by agreement with the Company.

Of the Company’s ninety-four properties, only three leases contain an early termination provision, which are as follows: the Company’s lease with its tenant at its 26,340 square foot location in Ridgeland (Jackson), MS, the Company’s lease with its tenant at its 83,000 square foot location in Roanoke, VA and the Company’s lease with its tenant at its 102,135 square foot location in O’Fallon (St. Louis), MO.

Stock Compensation Plan

The Company has a Stock Option and Stock Award Plan, adopted in 2007 and amended and restated in 2010 (the “2007 Plan”), authorizing the grant to officers and key employees of options to purchase up to 1,500,000 shares of common stock, including up to 100,000 shares of restricted stock awarded to any one participant in any one fiscal year.

The Company accounts for awards of stock options and restricted stock in accordance with ASC 718-10, “Compensation-Stock Compensation”. ASC 718-10 requires that compensation cost for all stock awards be calculated and amortized over the service period (generally equal to the vesting period). The compensation cost for stock option grants is determined using option pricing models, intended to estimate the fair value of the awards at the grant date less estimated forfeitures. The compensation expense for restricted stock is recognized based on the fair value of the restricted stock awards less estimated forfeitures. The fair value of restricted stock awards is equal to the fair value of the Company’s stock on the grant date. The amortization of compensation costs for stock option grants and restricted stock are included in General and Administrative Expenses in the accompanying Consolidated Statements of Income and amounted to $101,968 and $96,673 for the three months ended March 31, 2016 and 2015, respectively and amounted to $206,928 and $186,905 for the six months ended March 31, 2016 and 2015, respectively.

During the three and six months ended March 31, 2016 and 2015, the following stock options were granted under the Company’s 2007 Plan:

Date of Grant	Number of Employees		Number of Shares		Option Price		Expiration Date
1/5/16		1		65,000	$	10.37	1/5/24
1/5/15		1		65,000	$	11.16	1/5/23

The fair value of each option grant is estimated on the date of grant using the Black-Scholes option pricing model with the following assumptions used for grants in the fiscal year indicated:

	Fiscal 2016			Fiscal 2015
Dividend yield		6.17	%		5.38	%
Expected volatility		20.20	%		19.78	%
Risk-free interest rate		2.09	%		1.97	%
Expected lives (years)		8			8
Estimated forfeitures		-0-			-0-

The fair value of options granted during the three and six months ended March 31, 2016 and 2015 was $0.74 per option and $0.93 per option, respectively.

During the six months ended March 31, 2016, no shares of restricted stock were granted under the Company’s 2007 Plan. During the six months ended March 31, 2016, five participants exercised options to purchase an aggregate of 180,000 shares of common stock at a weighted average exercise price of $7.84 per share for total proceeds of $1,412,050. As of March 31, 2016, a total of 481,646 shares were available to grant as stock options or as restricted stock and there were outstanding options to purchase 520,000 shares under the 2007 Plan. The aggregate intrinsic value of options outstanding as of March 31, 2016 was $1,408,550 and the aggregate intrinsic value of options exercised during the six months ended March 31, 2016 was $457,300.

Recent Accounting Pronouncements

In March 2016, the Financial Accounting Standards Board (“FASB”) issued Accounting Standards Update (“ASU”) 2016-09, “Compensation – Stock Compensation: Improvements to Employee Share-Based Payment Accounting, which relates to the accounting for employee share-based payments”. ASU 2016-09 addresses several aspects of the accounting for share-based payment award transactions, including: (a) income tax consequences; (b) classification of awards as either equity or liabilities; and (c) classification on the statement of cash flows. This standard will be effective for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2016, including interim periods within those fiscal years. The Company is currently evaluating the potential impact this standard may have on the consolidated financial statements and the timing of adoption.

In February 2016, the FASB issued ASU 2016-02, “Leases”. ASU 2016-02 amends the existing accounting standards for lease accounting, including requiring lessees to recognize most leases on their balance sheets and making targeted changes to lessor accounting. The standard requires a modified retrospective transition approach for all leases existing at, or entered into after, the date of initial application, with an option to use certain transition relief. ASU 2016-02 will be effective for annual reporting periods beginning after December 15, 2018. Early adoption is permitted. The Company is currently evaluating the potential impact this standard may have on the consolidated financial statements and the timing of adoption.

In January 2016, the FASB issued ASU 2016-01, “Financial Instruments – Overall: Recognition and Measurement of Financial Assets and Financial Liabilities”. ASU 2016-01 requires equity investments (except those accounted for under the equity method of accounting, or those that result in consolidation of the investee) to be measured at fair value with changes in fair value recognized in net income, requires public business entities to use the exit price notion when measuring the fair value of financial instruments for disclosure purposes, requires separate presentation of financial assets and financial liabilities by measurement category and form of financial asset, and eliminates the requirement for public business entities to disclose the method(s) and significant assumptions used to estimate the fair value that is required to be disclosed for financial instruments measured at amortized cost. These changes become effective for the Company’s fiscal year beginning October 1, 2018. The Company is currently in the process of evaluating the impact of the adoption on its consolidated financial statements and has not determined the effects of this update on the Company’s financial position, results of operations or cash flows and disclosures at this time.

In September 2015, the FASB issued ASU 2015-16, “Simplifying the Accounting for Measurement-Period Adjustments”. ASU 2015-16 eliminates the requirement to restate prior period financial statements for measurement period adjustments. The new guidance requires that the cumulative impact of a measurement period adjustment (including the impact on prior periods) be recognized in the reporting period in which the adjustment is identified. ASU 2015-16 is effective for interim and annual periods beginning after December 15, 2015. Early adoption is permitted. The Company does not expect the adoption of ASU 2015-16 to have a material effect on the Company’s consolidated financial statements.

In April 2015, the FASB issued ASU 2015-03, “Interest - Imputation of Interest (Topic 835): Simplifying the Presentation of Debt Issuance Costs. ASU 2015-03 require that debt issuance costs related to a recognized debt liability be presented in the balance sheet as a direct deduction from the carrying amount of that debt liability, consistent with debt discounts. The recognition and measurement guidance for debt issuance costs are not affected by the amendments in this update. The amendments in ASU 2015-03 are effective for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2015. Early adoption is permitted. In August 2015, the FASB issued ASU 2015-15, “Presentation and Subsequent Measurement of Debt Issuance Costs Associated with Line-of-Credit Arrangements” providing guidance regarding the presentation and subsequent measurement of debt issuance costs related to line-of-credit arrangements. Given the absence of authoritative guidance on this matter, the SEC staff would not object to an entity deferring and presenting debt issuance costs as an asset and subsequently amortizing the deferred debt issuance costs ratably over the term of the line-of-credit arrangement, regardless of whether there are any outstanding borrowings on that line-of-credit arrangement. The Company is currently in the process of evaluating the impact the adoption of ASU 2015-03 and ASU 2015-15 will have on the Company’s financial position or results of operations.

In February 2015, the FASB issued ASU 2015-02, Consolidation (Topic 810), “Amendments to the Consolidation Analysis”. ASU 2015-02 focuses to minimize situations under previously existing guidance in which a reporting entity was required to consolidate another legal entity in which that reporting entity did not have: (1) the ability through contractual rights to act primarily on its own behalf; (2) ownership of the majority of the legal entity’s voting rights; or (3) the exposure to a majority of the legal entity’s economic benefits. ASU 2015-02 affects reporting entities that are required to evaluate whether they should consolidate certain legal entities. All legal entities are subject to reevaluation under the revised consolidation model. ASU 2015-02 will be effective for periods beginning after December 15, 2015. Early adoption is permitted, including adoption in an interim period. The Company does not expect the adoption of ASU 2015-02 to have a material effect on the Company’s consolidated financial statements.

Management does not believe that any other recently issued, but not yet effective accounting pronouncements, if adopted, would have a material effect on the accompanying Consolidated Financial Statements.

Segment Reporting

The Company’s primary business is the ownership and management of real estate properties. The Company invests in well-located, modern industrial buildings leased primarily to investment grade tenants or their subsidiaries on long-term net leases. The Company reviews operating and financial information for each property on an individual basis and therefore, each property represents an individual operating segment. The Company evaluates financial performance using Net Operating Income (“NOI”) from property operations. NOI is defined as recurring Rental and Reimbursement Revenue, less Real Estate Taxes and Operating Expenses, such as insurance, utilities and repairs and maintenance. The Company has aggregated the properties into one reportable segment as the properties share similar long-term economic characteristics and have other similarities including the fact that they are operated as industrial properties subject to long-term net leases primarily to investment grade tenants or their subsidiaries.