First Industrial Realty Trust (FR) will raise its quarterly dividend by 8.0 percent to 27 cents per share in 2021. This follows a 8.7 percent hike to $0.25 per share in the first quarter of 2020. The real estate investment trust has now increased its dividend 8 consecutive years.

The next dividend is payable on April 19, 2021 to stockholders of record on March 31, 2021. According to FR this represents a payout ratio of approximately 69% of its anticipated 2021 Adjusted Funds from Operations (AFFO) as defined in the supplemental report.

A new annualized dividend rate of $1.08 per share yields 2.5% at a stock price of $43.70. The annual dividend payment to shareholders will jump to $139 million if we include this new dividend hike.

First Industrial Realty Trust, Inc. is a fully integrated owner, operator, and developer of industrial real estate. The company owns, manages, acquires, sells, develops and redevelops industrial real estate and is a Maryland corporation organized on August 10, 1993. As of December 31, 2018, the company owned 458 industrial properties located in 21 states, containing an aggregate of approximately 63.1 million square feet of gross leasable area (“GLA”). Of the 458 properties owned on a consolidated basis, none of them are directly owned by the company. First Industrial Realty reinstated a quarterly dividend in 2013. The dividend was suspended in 2009.