Dividend.com has re-added an industrial and office property owner to the Best Dividend Stocks List and removed an advertising agency from the list.
Since achieving a DARS score of 3.9, our chosen real estate investment trust (REIT) has managed to return more than 36%. The stock was only removed due to a market-cap tie-breaker technicality of our model. And thanks to an exceptional bullish showing, it’s now back on the list.
And it’s easy to see why.
Since its spin-off from another real estate venture, our chosen office/industrial REIT has grown its asset base to more than 28.1 million feet of rentable space. Moreover, that space is located in a variety of high-growth, high-demand areas and is rented to more than 4,900 different firms. This creates an enviable stream of rent payments that have powered our pick’s cash flows and grown its dividends by 240% since its spin-off.
What’s even better is the growing economy has continued to push up demand for our pick’s offices, industrial parks and other real estate assets, which will have it continuing on its pace of dividend and earnings growth far into the future.
To summarize, here are five reasons why you should own this stock:
- Largest owner of critical office/industrial “flex” space in the United States.
- Has grown its dividend payout 240% since its IPO in 1998, including a 13%+ increase at the beginning of this year.
- Average annual total shareholder return has managed to beat the S&P 500 over the last five-, ten- and fifteen-year periods.
- Investment grade balance sheet with low debt, strong coverage ratios and no debt maturing this year.
- Healthy payout ratio of 54% and Treasury Bond-beating yield of 2.5%.
Soft Removal of an Advertising Firm From the Best Dividend Stocks List
Since adding our advertising specialist back in June 2016, the stock has performed well for investors, driven by its low overhead and growing web/online adoption. However, in recent months, investors have abandoned the stock as competition in the space has increased. Advertising spending continues to be tight, and several competitors have reported less-than-desirable numbers.
And with that, our pick is about 16% below its 52-week high. Given our rules-based system, this has cut the firm’s relative strength score and its overall DARS score to just 3.8. However, the stock still features high metrics across the remaining DARS criteria and also plenty of dividend potential. We remain very bullish on the name.
See why this global healthcare giant remains atop our Best Dividend Stocks List here.
