Only 2 Days Left Before Retail Properties of America Inc (NYSE:RPAI) Will Start Trading Ex-Dividend, Should Investors Buy?
Important news for shareholders and potential investors in Retail Properties of America Inc (NYSE:RPAI): The dividend payment of US$0.17 per share will be distributed into shareholder on 10 July 2018, and the stock will begin trading ex-dividend at an earlier date, 25 June 2018. Is this future income a persuasive enough catalyst for investors to think about Retail Properties of America as an investment today? Below, I’m going to look at the latest data and analyze the stock and its dividend property in further detail. Check out our latest analysis for Retail Properties of America
Here’s how I find good dividend stocks
When assessing a stock as a potential addition to my dividend Portfolio, I look at these five areas:
Is it the top 25% annual dividend yield payer?
Does it consistently pay out dividends without missing a payment of significantly cutting payout?
Has dividend per share amount increased over the past?
Is its earnings sufficient to payout dividend at the current rate?
Based on future earnings growth, will it be able to continue to payout dividend at the current rate?
How well does Retail Properties of America fit our criteria?
The company currently pays out 51.66% of its earnings as a dividend, according to its trailing twelve-month data, which is rather low compared to other REITs. Generally, REITs are expected to pay out the majority of its earnings to provide a regular income stream for their investors. However, analysts are forecasting a drastic change in payout, with dividends expecting to make up more than double of earnings in the next three years. This brings about uncertainty around the stability of RPAI’s dividend income in the future.
If there is one thing that you want to be reliable in your life, it’s dividend stocks and their constant income stream. Unfortunately, it is really too early to view Retail Properties of America as a dividend investment. It has only been consistently paying dividends for 6 years, however, standard practice for reliable payers is to look for a 10-year minimum track record.
In terms of its peers, Retail Properties of America produces a yield of 5.28%, which is high for REITs stocks.
Next Steps:
If you are building an income portfolio, then Retail Properties of America is a complicated choice since it has some positive aspects as well as negative ones. However, if you are not strictly just a dividend investor, the stock could still offer some interesting investment opportunities. Given that this is purely a dividend analysis, you should always research extensively before deciding whether or not a stock is an appropriate investment for you. I always recommend analysing the company’s fundamentals and underlying business before making an investment decision. Below, I’ve compiled three key factors you should further research:
Future Outlook: What are well-informed industry analysts predicting for RPAI’s future growth? Take a look at our free research report of analyst consensus for RPAI’s outlook.
Valuation: What is RPAI worth today? Even if the stock is a cash cow, it’s not worth an infinite price. The intrinsic value infographic in our free research report helps visualize whether RPAI is currently mispriced by the market.
Dividend Rockstars: Are there better dividend payers with stronger fundamentals out there? Check out our free list of these great stocks here.
To help readers see pass the short term volatility of the financial market, we aim to bring you a long-term focused research analysis purely driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis does not factor in the latest price sensitive company announcements.
The author is an independent contributor and at the time of publication had no position in the stocks mentioned.