Retail Properties Bumps Up Quarterly Dividend By 17%; Street Remains Sidelined

Retail Properties of America, a real estate investment trust, has raised its quarterly cash dividend by 16.7% to $0.07 per share from $0.06 per share. The dividend declared is for the first quarter of 2021.

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Retail Properties (RPAI) plans to pay the new dividend on April 9 to shareholders of record as of March 26.

The company’s annual dividend of $0.28 per share reflects a dividend yield of 2.4%.

Last month, the company reported better-than-expected 4Q revenues of $107.2 million. Analysts were expecting revenues of $106.8 million. The company’s 4Q earnings of $0.01 per share were in-line with the Street’s estimates. (See Retail Properties of America stock analysis on TipRanks)

On March 4, KeyBanc analyst Todd Thomas downgraded the stock to Hold from Buy. In a note to investors, the analyst said that the company is well-positioned to benefit from the recovery and economic reopening given its strong retail portfolio and solid balance sheet. However, Thomas does not see much upside in the near-term compared to its peers, which is keeping him on the sidelines.

Overall, consensus among analysts is a Hold based on 2 Holds. The average analyst price target of $11 implies downside potential of about 6.7% to current levels. Shares gained by 54.6% in one year.