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It looks like Extra Space Storage Inc. (NYSE:EXR) is about to go ex-dividend in the next 4 days. You will need to purchase shares before the 13th of September to receive the dividend, which will be paid on the 30th of September.
Extrace Storage's upcoming dividend is US$0.90 a share, following on from the last 12 months, when the company distributed a total of US$3.60 per share to shareholders. Calculating the last year's worth of payments shows that Extrace Storage has a trailing yield of 3.0% on the current share price of $119.74. Dividends are a major contributor to investment returns for long term holders, but only if the dividend continues to be paid. That's why we should always check whether the dividend payments appear sustainable, and if the company is growing.
View our latest analysis for Extrace Storage
If a company pays out more in dividends than it earned, then the dividend might become unsustainable - hardly an ideal situation. Extrace Storage is paying out an acceptable 69% of its profit, a common payout level among most companies. That said, REITs are often required by law to distribute all of their earnings, and it's not unusual to see a REIT with a payout ratio around 100%. We wouldn't read too much into this. Yet cash flows are even more important than profits for assessing a dividend, so we need to see if the company generated enough cash to pay its distribution. It paid out more than half (64%) of its free cash flow in the past year, which is within an average range for most companies.
It's positive to see that Extrace Storage's dividend is covered by both profits and cash flow, since this is generally a sign that the dividend is sustainable, and a lower payout ratio usually suggests a greater margin of safety before the dividend gets cut.
Click here to see the company's payout ratio, plus analyst estimates of its future dividends.
Have Earnings And Dividends Been Growing?
Businesses with strong growth prospects usually make the best dividend payers, because it's easier to grow dividends when earnings per share are improving. If earnings fall far enough, the company could be forced to cut its dividend. Fortunately for readers, Extrace Storage's earnings per share have been growing at 17% a year for the past five years. Extrace Storage has an average payout ratio which suggests a balance between growing earnings and rewarding shareholders. This is a reasonable combination that could hint at some further dividend increases in the future.
Another key way to measure a company's dividend prospects is by measuring its historical rate of dividend growth. Extrace Storage has delivered an average of 14% per year annual increase in its dividend, based on the past 10 years of dividend payments. Both per-share earnings and dividends have both been growing rapidly in recent times, which is great to see.