What is a good dividend payout ratio for a REIT?
Typically, a REIT with a payout ratio between 35% and 60% is considered ideal and safe from dividend cuts, while ratios between 60% and 75% are moderately safe, and payout ratios above 75% are considered unsafe. As a payout ratio approaches 100% of earnings, it generally portends a high risk for a dividend cut.
So, what counts as a “good” dividend payout ratio? Generally speaking, a dividend payout ratio of 30-50% is considered healthy, while anything over 50% could be unsustainable.
To qualify as a REIT, a company must have the bulk of its assets and income connected to real estate investment and must distribute at least 90 percent of its taxable income to shareholders annually in the form of dividends.
Dividend yield REITs in the U.S. 2019-2023, by property type
U.S. REITs in the FTSE Nareit All Equity REITs index yielded between two and 16 percent dividend depending on the property type as of November 2023. Home financing REITs had the highest yield of 16.04 percent, compared to 4.59 percent for all equity REITs.
A Current Ratio above one informs that the REITs Total Current Assets are greater than its Total Current Liabilities. Therefore, the higher the current ratio is above one, the better chances that the REIT is in a position to pay its debt/obligations within the next 12 months.
A REIT's expected dividend payout ratio is calculated as its current annualized dividend, divided by an estimate of next year's expected funds from operation (FFO) per share. REITs use FFO to measure profitability instead of earnings per share (EPS).
Generally speaking, companies with the best long-term records of dividend payments have stable payout ratios over many years. But a payout ratio greater than 100% suggests a company is paying out more in dividends than its earnings can support and might be cause for concern regarding sustainability.
A DPR of less than 30% to 35% is a safe ratio. Businesses starting out would pay these dividends and, hopefully, will launch from there. While the dividends would be low, this is a good place to start investing if you believe the company has potential.
The dividend payout ratio is a vital metric for dividend investors. It shows how much of a company's income it pays out to investors. The higher that number, the less cash a company retains to expand its business and its dividend.
REITs must pay out at least 90% of their taxable income to shareholders as dividends each year.
What is the 80 20 rule for REITs?
2017-45 to allow publicly offered REITs to issue 80% stock/20% cash dividends. At the onset of the pandemic, Nareit requested that the IRS issue new guidance allowing 90% stock/10% cash dividends for 2020, which it did by issuing Rev. Proc. 2020-19.
For Group REITs, the consequences of leaving early apply when the principal company of the group gives notice for the group as a whole to leave the regime within ten years of joining or where an exiting company has been a member of the Group REIT for less than ten years.
Boasting the longest dividend growth track record amongst REITs, Federal Realty stock (NYSE:FRT) has become a favorite among income investors.
REIT (Ticker) | Specialty | Forward Dividend Yield |
---|---|---|
Western Asset Mortgage Capital (WMC) | Residential mortgage assets | 15.9% |
Two Harbors Investment (TWO) | Residential mortgage-backed securities | 14.1% |
MFA Financial (MFA) | Residential mortgage assets | 12.6% |
Chimera Investment (CIM) | Mortgage assets | 13.5% |
Ticker | Name | Dividend Yield |
---|---|---|
EARN | Ellington Residential Mortgage REIT | 15.41% |
AGNC | AGNC Investment | 14.60% |
ARR | ARMOUR Residential REIT | 14.36% |
EFC | Ellington Financial | 14.01% |
If a REIT's dividend yield is above its long-term average, then the trust is undervalued; conversely, if a REIT's dividend yield is below its long-term average, the trust is overvalued.
Another good source for making sure a REIT isn't overextending itself with debt (and a proxy for the company's overall quality) is to look at its credit rating. An investment-grade credit rating is BBB- and above (Standard & Poor's rating scale), and the higher a REIT's rating the easier time it has borrowing cheaply.
Beginning with its second taxable year, a REIT must meet two ownership tests: it must have at least 100 shareholders (the 100 Shareholder Test) and five or fewer individuals cannot own more than 50% of the value of the REIT's stock during the last half of its taxable year (the 5/50 Test).
On average: Leverage ratios remained modest with debt-to-market assets below 35%. Percentage of total debt at a fixed rate was 91%. Percentage of total debt that was unsecured was 79%, providing REITs with a competitive advantage over many of their private property market counterparts.
Interpretation of Dividend Payout Ratio
A high DPR means that the company is reinvesting less money back into its business, while paying out relatively more of its earnings in the form of dividends.
Do investors prefer high or low dividend payouts?
Different groups of investors, or clienteles, prefer different dividend policies. The dividend clientele effect states that high-tax bracket investors (like individuals) prefer low dividend payouts and low tax bracket investors (like corporations and pension funds) prefer high dividend payouts.
In some cases, a high dividend yield can indicate a company in distress. The yield is high because the company's shares have fallen in response to financial troubles. And the high yield may not last for much longer. A company under financial stress could reduce or scrap its dividend in an effort to conserve cash.
The average dividend yield on S&P 500 index companies that pay a dividend historically fluctuates somewhere between 2% and 5%, depending on market conditions. 7 In general, it pays to do your homework on stocks yielding more than 8% to find out what is truly going on with the company.
Ideally, you should look for companies with a dividend payout ratio of less than 0.6 or 60%. When a business pays out 60% or less of its net income to investors, it means it will have 40% or more of its earnings left over to fund its own growth and expansion.
You can calculate this ratio by dividing the annual dividend per share by the annual earnings per share. So, for example, if a company has an annual dividend per share of $2 and an annual EPS of $5, the dividend payout ratio is 40%. A 40% payout ratio suggests that the dividend is sustainable.
References
- https://www.nasdaq.com/articles/does-warren-buffett-invest-in-reits
- https://www.tipranks.com/etf/reit/forecast
- https://www.quora.com/Is-it-possible-for-a-REIT-to-go-bankrupt-given-that-the-value-of-the-underlying-assets-cannot-go-to-zero
- https://www.sec.gov/files/reits.pdf
- https://seekingalpha.com/article/4641210-warren-buffett-charlie-munger-reits
- https://www.fidelity.com/learning-center/trading-investing/outlook-real-estate
- https://www.bankrate.com/investing/good-time-to-buy-reits/
- https://www.fool.com/investing/2023/07/02/you-cant-control-the-reit-bear-market-but-you-can/
- https://www.cnbc.com/2023/12/19/2024-market-predictions-bumpy-landing-for-the-economy.html
- https://www.simplysafedividends.com/world-of-dividends/posts/42-2023-monthly-dividend-stocks-list-all-66-ranked-and-analyzed
- https://www.nerdwallet.com/article/investing/the-best-investments-right-now
- https://www.simplysafedividends.com/world-of-dividends/posts/21-the-most-important-metrics-for-reit-investing
- https://facet.com/investing/reit-investing-pros-and-cons/
- https://www.realized1031.com/blog/do-reits-have-a-limited-lifespan
- https://bin.ssec.wisc.edu/ABI/kaba/REIT/ch3.pdf
- https://seekingalpha.com/article/4634124-what-i-wish-i-knew-before-investing-in-reits
- https://money.usnews.com/investing/articles/best-high-yield-reits-to-buy
- https://www.ramseysolutions.com/retirement/real-estate-investment-trust
- https://www.morningstar.com/stocks/best-reits-buy
- https://www.suredividend.com/high-dividend-reits/
- https://www.nbcmiami.com/news/local/will-mortgage-rates-come-down-floridas-real-estate-market-outlook-for-2024/3193737/
- https://www.experian.com/blogs/ask-experian/pros-cons-investing-in-reits/
- https://smartasset.com/investing/reits-vs-stocks
- https://www.reit.com/news/blog/market-commentary/proper-balance-sheets-reit-sectors-focused-low-leverage-fixed-rate-and
- https://www.sofi.com/learn/content/reit-investing-pros-and-cons/
- https://finance.yahoo.com/news/despite-56-years-dividend-growth-193929759.html
- https://money.usnews.com/investing/articles/how-to-analyze-a-stocks-dividend
- https://www.investopedia.com/articles/mortgages-real-estate/10/real-estate-investment-trust-reit.asp
- https://www.cnbc.com/select/what-to-know-about-reits/
- https://www.forbes.com/sites/bernadettejoy/2023/06/15/with-a-potential-recession-should-you-buy-a-home-now-or-wait/
- https://www.fool.com/the-ascent/buying-stocks/articles/heres-why-i-wouldnt-invest-in-reits-right-now/
- https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/reit-safe-rakeshkumar-s-bhatia
- https://www.reit.com/news/blog/market-commentary/2024-reit-market-outlook
- https://www.nasdaq.com/articles/3-real-estate-stocks-that-could-make-you-a-millionaire
- https://www.robomarkets.com/blog/stock-market/top-stocks/top-10-monthly-dividend-stocks-of-2022/
- https://www.doorloop.com/blog/reits-statistics
- https://www.reit.com/what-reit/how-form-reit
- https://tokenist.com/investing/reits-vs-stocks/
- https://www.fool.com/terms/d/dividend-payout-ratio/
- https://www.pionline.com/interactive/reits-historically-perform-well-during-and-after-recessions
- https://www.investopedia.com/articles/basics/11/due-dilligence-on-dividends.asp
- https://www.livemint.com/market/stock-market-news/market-outlook-2024-what-sectors-should-you-bet-on-in-2024-heres-what-5-experts-say-11703747743844.html
- https://www.classlawgroup.com/securities-fraud/investment/real-estate-investment-trusts/getting-out-of-a-non-traded-reit
- https://www.suredividend.com/how-to-value-reits/
- https://www.uky.edu/~swlee0/fin445/div.ppt
- https://corporatefinanceinstitute.com/resources/accounting/dividend-payout-ratio-formula/
- https://www.reitnotes.com/reit-dictionary/
- https://www.wealthmanagement.com/alternative-investments/fund-managers-are-bullish-reits-2024
- https://endowus.com/insights/reits-vs-stocks-better-dividend-returns
- https://www.creditkarma.com/investments/i/best-investments
- https://www.fool.com/investing/2022/01/27/the-5-reits-with-the-longest-dividend-histories/
- https://lyonswealth.com/blog-details/how-much-money-do-i-need-to-invest-to-make-3000
- https://www.morganstanley.com/ideas/global-investing-themes-2024
- https://www.bankrate.com/investing/reit-investing-mistakes-to-avoid/
- https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/2024/01/01/housing-market-projection-real-estate-2024/72046015007/
- https://wealthyeducation.com/dividend-payout-ratio/
- https://www.rocketmortgage.com/learn/reit
- https://www.gov.uk/hmrc-internal-manuals/investment-funds/ifm26040
- https://www.reit.com/investing/reits-and-interest-rates
- https://www.investopedia.com/articles/markets/102715/6-reits-pay-dividends-monthly.asp
- https://www.statista.com/statistics/1347269/dividend-yield-real-estate-investment-trust-reits-usa/
- https://www.forbes.com/sites/investor-hub/article/best-reits-for-reliable-income-for-2023/
- https://www.carboncollective.co/sustainable-investing/dividend-payout-ratio
- https://www.schwab.com/stocks/understand-stocks/reits
- https://www.investopedia.com/articles/investing/072314/investing-real-estate-versus-reits.asp
- https://www.fool.com/research/reits-vs-stocks/
- https://www.investors.com/etfs-and-funds/sectors/sp500-analysts-predict-surprising-new-magnificent-7-stocks-for-2024/
- https://www.nasdaq.com/articles/5-bold-predictions-for-the-stock-market-and-more-in-2024-and-why-a-few-will-probably-be
- https://www.nasdaq.com/articles/heres-why-2024-could-be-great-for-reits:-4-stocks-to-buy-now
- https://medium.com/crypto-and-money/7-proven-ways-to-make-5-000-9-000-per-month-in-passive-income-1aafbf025154
- https://www.rocketmortgage.com/learn/should-i-sell-my-house-now
- https://finance.yahoo.com/news/much-money-invest-reits-123349621.html
- https://www.investopedia.com/articles/investing/071715/risks-chasing-high-dividend-stocks.asp
- https://money.usnews.com/investing/articles/will-the-stock-market-crash-risk-factors
- https://www.dividend.com/how-to-invest/in-spite-of-90-rule-why-do-some-reits-have-poor-payout-ratios/
- https://www.reit.com/data-research/research/nareit-research/reits-2023-maintaining-solid-footing-amid-economic-uncertainty
- https://www.fool.com/investing/stock-market/market-sectors/real-estate-investing/reit/
- https://www.quora.com/If-I-have-1-million-in-stocks-can-I-live-off-of-the-dividends
- https://www.reit.com/news/blog/nareit-developments/treasury-and-irs-allow-public-reits-use-90-stock-satisfy-2021-and
- https://www.managementstudyguide.com/problem-with-reits.htm
- https://www.wallstreetzen.com/blog/reit-vs-stocks/
- https://www.investopedia.com/terms/p/payoutratio.asp
- https://www.houzeo.com/blog/should-i-sell-my-house-now/
- https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/columnist/krantz/2012/10/25/reit-real-estate-property/1637063/
- https://seekingalpha.com/article/4605132-reits-will-go-bankrupt-not-so-fast
- https://finance.yahoo.com/news/genius-ways-1-000-month-105500970.html
- https://gocardless.com/guides/posts/dividend-payout-ratio/
- https://money.usnews.com/investing/articles/how-to-invest-when-interest-rates-are-cut
- https://www.investopedia.com/articles/investing/031915/what-are-risks-reits.asp
- https://www.reit.com/investing/why-invest-reits
- https://smartasset.com/investing/how-much-to-invest-in-reits
- https://www.simplysafedividends.com/world-of-dividends/posts/1-how-to-live-off-dividends-and-how-much-you-need-to-retire