Digital Realty Trust, Inc. (DLR) will raise its quarterly dividend by 6.9 percent to $1.08 per share in the first quarter of 2019. This follows 14 years of increased dividends paid by the data center REIT.

The dividend will be paid to common stockholders of record as of the close of business on March 15, 2019. The payment date is March 29, 2019. A new annualized rate of $4.32 per share yields 3.6% at a stock price of $117. This year DLR stock has gained 11 percent.

"Our board of directors has approved a 7% increase in our quarterly common stock cash dividend to $1.08 per share, reflecting our expectation of continued growth in cash flow," commented Andrew P. Power, Chief Financial Officer. "This marks the 14(th) consecutive year we have grown our dividend, and we are pleased to be among a select group of REITs to have raised the dividend each and every year since our initial public offering in 2004."

Digital Realty Trust, Inc. is a data center real estate investment trust (REIT). The company owns and operates data centers located throughout North America, Europe, Latin America, Asia and Australia. Digital Realty's clients include domestic and international companies of all sizes, ranging from cloud and information technology services, communications and social networking to financial services, manufacturing, energy, healthcare and consumer products. Digital Realty became a public company in 2004 and has paid a dividend every year since.