Back to top

Image: Bigstock

CubeSmart Increases Dividend by 28.6% on Solid Cash Flow

Read MoreHide Full Article

Ushering in good news for its shareholders, CubeSmart (CUBE - Free Report) announced a 28.6% hike in its quarterly dividend rate to 27 cents from 21 cents paid earlier. The company will pay the raised dividend for the fourth quarter on Jan 17, 2017 to shareholders on record as of Jan 3.

Based on the increased rate, the annual dividend comes to $1.08 per share, up from the prior annual rate of 84 cents, leading to an annualized yield of about 4.3%, considering CubeSmart's closing price of $25.38 on Dec 15.

Per the company’s Chief Executive Officer, its operating platform and high quality portfolio led to steady and solid cash flow growth, resulting in the dividend hike. Further, he pointed out that the company has raised its dividend “more than 100% over the last three years”, while maintaining a conservative payout ratio.

After reporting a positive earnings surprise of 5.6% in the last quarter, with a long-term expected earnings growth rate of 6.1% against the 5.7% for the industry, this self-storage real estate investment trust (REIT) is now poised to capitalize on promising prospects of the industry and benefit shareholders accordingly.

Solid dividend payouts remain arguably the biggest enticement for REIT investors as the U.S. law requires these companies to distribute at least 90% of their taxable income to shareholders, annually, in the form of dividends.

Apart from Cubesmart, a number of REITs have announced dividend hikes in recent times. Notable among them are Mid-America Apartment Communities, Inc. (MAA - Free Report) , Ventas, Inc. (VTR - Free Report) and SL Green Realty Corp. (SLG - Free Report) .

Mid-America Apartment Communities declared a 6% hike to its common dividend for fiscal 2017. The company’s annualized dividend payout would now reach $3.48 per share of common stock, denoting an increase of 20 cents from the prior dividend level. The quarterly common dividend of 87 cents per share will be paid on Jan 31, 2017 to shareholders on record as of Jan 13.

Ventas’ new dividend of 77.5 cents per share marks an increase of 6% from that of its earlier payment. It will be paid in cash on Dec 30, 2016 to stockholders on record as of Dec 20.

Further, SL Green announced its fourth-quarter 2016 common stock dividend of 77.5 cents per share, marking a sequential increase of 7.6%. This takes the annual dividend payment to $3.10 per share and marks the sixth consecutive year of dividend hike. The company will pay the new dividend on Jan 17, 2017 to shareholders on record as of Jan 3.

CubeSmart currently has a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). Presently, Mid-America, Ventas and SL Green also carry a Zacks Rank #3. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

Shares of CubeSmart have gained 3.6% over the past one month, against the Zacks categorized REIT – Equity Trust – Other industry’ increase of 4.6%.



Zacks’ Best Private Investment Ideas

In addition to the recommendations that are available to the public on our website, how would you like to follow all Zacks' private buys and sells in real time?

Our experts cover all kinds of trades… from value to momentum . . . from stocks under $10 to ETF and option moves . . . from stocks that corporate insiders are buying up to companies that are about to report positive earnings surprises. You can even look inside exclusive portfolios that are normally closed to new investors. Starting today, for the next month, you can have unrestricted access. Click here for Zacks' private trades >>

Published in