VistaREIT declares 2nd largest dividend

VistaREIT [VREIT 1.78 unch; 18% avgVol] [link] declared a Q3/24 dividend of P0.04667/share, payable on 10 January 2025 to shareholders of record as of Dec. 30, 2024. The dividend has an annualized yield of 10.49% based on the previous closing price (previously 10.16%). The total amount of the dividend is P350 million, which is 97% of the P361 million in distributable income that VREIT reported for the quarter. Through 9M, VREIT’s cumulative distribution rate is 95.3% of all distributable income earned during the period. Relative to VREIT's IPO price, the dividend increased VREIT's total stock and dividend return to 25.52%, up from its pre-dividend total return of 22.85%.

MB bottom-line: I bet VREIT’s shareholders are hoping for a little bit of that “magically float upward for no good reason” treatment, like VREIT’s Villar-owned cousin PREIT [PREIT 2.18, down 0.9%; 39% avgVol] has enjoyed so far this year. While VREIT’s rise from its post-IPO crash has not been swift or dramatic, it has been consistent and significant, pushing the stock’s price from the P1.50/share range back in October of 2022 to nearly P1.80/share today. I think a lot of the Villar-related fears that caused VREIT to faceplant after its stabilization fund expired have simply not come to pass. VREIT isn’t the sexiest combination of mall assets and bland office buildings, but it has delivered bigger and bigger dividends over time without too much cause for concern. It’s interesting that this year’s Q3 dividend is 17% larger y/y, but I don’t really know what to make of that. I think it would be a bigger deal if the stock’s price trajectory wasn’t solidly upward and its dividend growth wasn’t also generally in the same direction. 

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