AREIT declares stable Q2 dividend

AREIT [AREIT 37.10 ?1.5%; 117% avgVol] [link] declared a Q2/24 dividend of P0.56, payable on August 11 to shareholders of record as of July 26. The dividend has an annualized yield of 6.04% based on the previous closing price, which is 0% smaller than AREIT's pre-dividend annualized yield of 6.04%. The total amount of the dividend is P1,326 million, but the company did not provide the applicable distribution income for the period. Relative to AREIT's IPO price, the dividend increased AREIT's total stock and dividend return to 68.3%, up from its pre-dividend total return of 66.22%. AREIT is up 11% YTD. The Q2/24 dividend matches AREIT’s record dividend that it declared in the first quarter of 2024, and is 5.6% larger than the dividend that it declared in the same quarter last year.

MB BOTTOM-LINE: The king continues its reign as the top REIT in the land. Yes, AREIT is the most expensive REIT on the market in terms of its price-to-distributable income multiple (15x), but there’s a reason why investors are willing to pay more for this REIT’s income stream, and that boils down to stable growth. AREIT grows its dividend over time, and that causes the stock’s price to rise over time to compensate. Market observers will note that this stock price increase is not a straight line, and not without its significant dumps: remember back in November when AREIT crashed down into the ?28/share range when Ayala Land [ALI 29.60 ?0.3%; 77% avgVol] was conducting block sales to facilitate growth? I took that as an opportunity to sell underperforming assets and load up. Was I right to do that? Absolutely, if you measure the trade by today’s price. But the long-term value of my bet will depend on the AREIT management team. Will they continue to outperform the market and deliver stable growth? Is the inflation monster dead or just sleeping? 

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