First Industrial Realty Trust Raises Annual Dividend Distribution Amount Five Consecutive Years (FR)

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Dividend Distribution

Featured Image Source: REIT Week 2018: NAREIT’s Investor Forum Presentation from http://www.firstindustrial.com/

First Industrial Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:FR) boosted its annual dividend distribution more than three-fold over the past five years and currently offers its shareholders a 2.6% dividend yield.

The 2008 financial crisis affected the company’s share price negatively and the price dropped more than 93% between September 2008 and March 2009. However, the share price reversed trend and finally recovered fully from the effects of the crisis by September 2017 and continues to provide steady asset appreciation.

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For the last year, the company rewarded its shareholders with a double-digit percentage total return. It also produced a triple-digit percentage total return during the last five years.

The company will distribute its next dividend on July 16 to all its shareholders of record before the June 28 ex-dividend date.

Dividend Distribution

First Industrial Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE:FR)

Headquartered in Chicago, Illinois and founded in 1993, First Industrial Realty Trust, Inc. is a real estate investment fund (REIT) that develops, owns and operates industrial real estate. As of March 31, the company owned, operated or had under development nearly 500 industrial facilities in 17 U.S. states. These facilities offer nearly 65 million square feet of industrial space and support First Industrial Realty’s more than 1,300 customers. Bulk and regional distribution facilities comprise 83% of the company’s total square footage. Additionally, the company offers light industrial facilities generally suited for product assembly operations, which accounts for 14% of total space. Lastly, the remaining 3% of space comprises of research and development facilities, as well as flexible space facilities for complex multi-function industrial applications or multi-tenant colocation. Currently, the company has 18 land properties totaling approximately 850 acres in various stages of development with a potential to add an additional 13 million square feet of leasable industrial space.

The trust’s current $0.2175 quarterly dividend amount is 3.6% higher than the $0.21 quarterly dividend paid in the same period last year. The new quarterly dividend distribution converts to an $0.87 annualized dividend and a 2.6% forward dividend yield. This yield is 14.6% above the REIT’s 2.3% average yield over the last five years.

First Industrial Realty Trust  paid its first dividend distribution in 1984 and failed to boost its annual payout only once over the subsequent 14 years. However, because of the 2008 financial crisis, the company discontinued its dividend payments in 2009. After reorganizing as a REIT, the trust resumed paying dividends in 2013 and has hiked its annual amount every year since then. Over the past five years, the trust enhanced its total annual dividend distribution amount more than 240%, which corresponds to an average growth rate of nearly 28% per year.

The share price rose initially almost 11% during the first five months of the trailing 12-month period and reached what was then a 52-week high by the end of November 2017. However, the overall market volatility contributed to the share price’s drop of nearly 15% during December 2017 and January 2018. The price reached its 52-week low of $27.75 on February 8, 2018.

After bottoming out at the beginning of February 2018, the share price resumed its uptrend and recovered all its losses since November 2017 by the end of May 2018. The share price closed at its new 52-week high of $33.67 on June 4, 2018. Over the following few days, the share price pulled back 2% and closed on June 15 at $33.01. This closing price was 11.6% higher than it was a year earlier, 19% above the 52-week low from the beginning of February 2018 and 124% higher than it was five years ago.

The dividend income and the capital growth combined over the past 12 months to reward shareholders with a 16% total return. Over the past three years, the share price and the dividend growth were equally steady and produced a total return on shareholders’ investment of 82%. The shareholders more than doubled their investment over the past five years with a total return of 126%.

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Ned Piplovic
Ned Piplovic, formerly an assistant editor of website content at Eagle Financial Publications, is an economic analyst and editor at Skousen Publishing. Additionally, Ned is also a teaching assistant at Chapman University to Mark Skousen, PhD, a free-market economist and Doti-Spogli Endowed Chair of Free Enterprise at the school. Ned graduated from Columbia University with a bachelor’s degree in Economics and Philosophy. He previously spent 15 years in corporate operations and financial management. Ned has written hundreds of articles for www.DividendInvestor.com and www.StockInvestor.com.
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