SL Green Hikes Dividend, Expands Share-Buyback Program to $3B

SL Green Realty Corp. SLG recently rewarded shareholders with a 4.1% sequential hike in the company’s fourth-quarter 2019 dividend to 88.5 cents per share on its common stock and OP units.

The increased dividend will be paid on Jan 15, 2020, to shareholders of record as on Jan 2, 2020.

Based on the increased rate, the annual dividend comes to $3.54 a share, resulting in an annualized yield of about 8.7%, considering SL Green’s closing price of $40.43 on Dec 6.

Per management, SL Green’s portfolio of premium assets in New York City’s key sub-markets as well as efforts to enhance portfolio quality on the back of redevelopment and development efforts enables the company to generate attractive dividends.

Notably, as investors prefer an income-generating stock, solid dividend payouts are arguably the biggest enticement for real estate investment trust (REIT) investors. In fact, the company has hiked dividends for nine consecutive years.

Apart from dividend hikes, the company remains committed to boost shareholder value through share buybacks. In fact, in a separate press release, SL Green notedthat its board of directors has authorized an increase of $500 million to the company’s share-repurchase program.

The company had initially announced a $1-billion share-repurchase program in August 2016. This authorization was enhanced in subsequent periods, with the most recent addition bringing the tally to $3 billion. To date, SL Green has repurchased 22.8 million shares under this program.

Per management, the company is expanding its share-buyback program to benefit from the gap between its net asset value and share price.

Further, the program has been supported by selling mature assets and narrowing focus to high-quality Manhattan commercial property. Moreover, the company aims to liquidate its DPE balance by $75 million in 2019, and use proceeds to repay SL Green’s line of credit and for share buybacks. Such match-funding initiatives indicate SL Green’s prudent capital-management practices and will relieve pressure from its investment-grade balance sheet.

In the past three months, shares of this Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) company have gained 5.4%, as against its industry’s loss of 0.4%.

Stocks to Consider

Prologis, Inc.’s PLD currently sports a Zacks Rank of 1 (Strong Buy). The company’s funds from operations (FFO) per share estimate for 2019 has been revised 1.2% upward to $3.31 in two months’ time. The stock has rallied 9.6% in three months’ time. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

Cousins Properties Incorporated’s CUZ Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2019 FFO per share moved up 2.1% to $2.96 over the past two months. Shares of this Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) company have gained 13.3% over the past three months.

Duke Realty Corporation DRE holds a Zacks Rank of 2, currently. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for the company’s current-year FFO per share moved marginally north to $1.44 over the past month. Further, its shares have appreciated 9% over the past three months.

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