Just 4 Days Before Rexford Industrial Realty, Inc. (NYSE:REXR) Will Be Trading Ex-Dividend
Readers hoping to buy Rexford Industrial Realty, Inc. (NYSE:REXR) for its dividend will need to make their move shortly, as the stock is about to trade ex-dividend. If you purchase the stock on or after the 27th of September, you won't be eligible to receive this dividend, when it is paid on the 15th of October.
Rexford Industrial Realty's next dividend payment will be US$0.2 per share. Last year, in total, the company distributed US$0.7 to shareholders. Calculating the last year's worth of payments shows that Rexford Industrial Realty has a trailing yield of 1.7% on the current share price of $44.12. Dividends are an important source of income to many shareholders, but the health of the business is crucial to maintaining those dividends. That's why we should always check whether the dividend payments appear sustainable, and if the company is growing.
See our latest analysis for Rexford Industrial Realty
Dividends are usually paid out of company profits, so if a company pays out more than it earned then its dividend is usually at greater risk of being cut. Rexford Industrial Realty paid out 59% of its earnings to investors last year, a normal payout level for most businesses. That said, REITs are often required by law to distribute all of their earnings, and it's not unusual to see a REIT with a payout ratio around 100%. We wouldn't read too much into this. A useful secondary check can be to evaluate whether Rexford Industrial Realty generated enough free cash flow to afford its dividend. Rexford Industrial Realty paid out more free cash flow than it generated - 116%, to be precise - last year, which we think is concerningly high. It's hard to consistently pay out more cash than you generate without either borrowing or using company cash, so we'd wonder how the company justifies this payout level.
While Rexford Industrial Realty's dividends were covered by the company's reported profits, cash is somewhat more important, so it's not great to see that the company didn't generate enough cash to pay its dividend. Cash is king, as they say, and were Rexford Industrial Realty to repeatedly pay dividends that aren't well covered by cashflow, we would consider this a warning sign.
Click here to see the company's payout ratio, plus analyst estimates of its future dividends.
Have Earnings And Dividends Been Growing?
Companies with consistently growing earnings per share generally make the best dividend stocks, as they usually find it easier to grow dividends per share. Investors love dividends, so if earnings fall and the dividend is reduced, expect a stock to be sold off heavily at the same time. That's why it's comforting to see Rexford Industrial Realty's earnings have been skyrocketing, up 47% per annum for the past five years. Earnings have been growing quickly, but we're concerned dividend payments consumed most of the company's cash flow over the past year.
We'd also point out that Rexford Industrial Realty issued a meaningful number of new shares in the past year. It's hard to grow dividends per share when a company keeps creating new shares.
The main way most investors will assess a company's dividend prospects is by checking the historical rate of dividend growth. Rexford Industrial Realty has delivered an average of 13% per year annual increase in its dividend, based on the past six years of dividend payments. It's great to see earnings per share growing rapidly over several years, and dividends per share growing right along with it.
To Sum It Up
Should investors buy Rexford Industrial Realty for the upcoming dividend? It's good to see that earnings per share are growing and that the company's payout ratio is within a normal range for most businesses. However we're somewhat concerned that it paid out 116% of its cashflow, which is uncomfortably high. All things considered, we are not particularly enthused about Rexford Industrial Realty from a dividend perspective.
Curious what other investors think of Rexford Industrial Realty? See what analysts are forecasting, with this visualisation of its historical and future estimated earnings and cash flow.
We wouldn't recommend just buying the first dividend stock you see, though. Here's a list of interesting dividend stocks with a greater than 2% yield and an upcoming dividend.
We aim to bring you long-term focused research analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material.
If you spot an error that warrants correction, please contact the editor at editorial-team@simplywallst.com. This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. Simply Wall St has no position in the stocks mentioned. Thank you for reading.
