First Industrial Realty Trust (FR) Could Be a Great Choice
Getting big returns from financial portfolios, whether through stocks, bonds, ETFs, other securities, or a combination of all, is an investor's dream. But for income investors, generating consistent cash flow from each of your liquid investments is your primary focus.
Cash flow can come from bond interest, interest from other types of investments, and of course, dividends. A dividend is that coveted distribution of a company's earnings paid out to shareholders, and investors often view it by its dividend yield, a metric that measures the dividend as a percent of the current stock price. Many academic studies show that dividends make up large portions of long-term returns, and in many cases, dividend contributions surpass one-third of total returns.
First Industrial Realty Trust in Focus
First Industrial Realty Trust (FR) is headquartered in Chicago, and is in the Finance sector. The stock has seen a price change of 7.87% since the start of the year. The real estate investment trust is paying out a dividend of $0.29 per share at the moment, with a dividend yield of 2.46% compared to the REIT and Equity Trust - Other industry's yield of 4.93% and the S&P 500's yield of 1.73%.
Looking at dividend growth, the company's current annualized dividend of $1.28 is up 8.5% from last year. Over the last 5 years, First Industrial Realty Trust has increased its dividend 5 times on a year-over-year basis for an average annual increase of 7.69%. Looking ahead, future dividend growth will be dependent on earnings growth and payout ratio, which is the proportion of a company's annual earnings per share that it pays out as a dividend. Right now, First Industrial Realty Trust's payout ratio is 52%, which means it paid out 52% of its trailing 12-month EPS as dividend.
Looking at this fiscal year, FR expects solid earnings growth. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2023 is $2.40 per share, with earnings expected to increase 5.26% from the year ago period.
Bottom Line
From greatly improving stock investing profits and reducing overall portfolio risk to providing tax advantages, investors like dividends for a variety of different reasons. However, not all companies offer a quarterly payout.
Big, established firms that have more secure profits are often seen as the best dividend options, but it's fairly uncommon to see high-growth businesses or tech start-ups offer their stockholders a dividend. During periods of rising interest rates, income investors must be mindful that high-yielding stocks tend to struggle. With that in mind, FR is a compelling investment opportunity. Not only is it a strong dividend play, but the stock currently sits at a Zacks Rank of 3 (Hold).
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First Industrial Realty Trust, Inc. (FR) : Free Stock Analysis Report
