Gladstone Land Co. (NASDAQ:LAND) to Issue Dividend Increase - $0.05 Per Share

Gladstone Land Co. (NASDAQ:LAND - Get Free Report) declared a monthly dividend on Tuesday, April 9th, Zacks reports. Investors of record on Friday, April 19th will be given a dividend of 0.047 per share by the real estate investment trust on Tuesday, April 30th. This represents a $0.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.35%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 18th. This is a positive change from Gladstone Land's previous monthly dividend of $0.05.

Gladstone Land has raised its dividend payment by an average of 1.0% per year over the last three years and has raised its dividend annually for the last 10 consecutive years. Gladstone Land has a dividend payout ratio of -193.1% meaning the company cannot currently cover its dividend with earnings alone and is relying on its balance sheet to cover its dividend payments. Research analysts expect Gladstone Land to earn $0.70 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $0.56 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 80.0%.

Gladstone Land Stock Performance

Gladstone Land stock traded up $0.09 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $12.96. 227,330 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 209,476. The firm has a market cap of $464.49 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -48.00, a PEG ratio of 3.33 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a current ratio of 1.80, a quick ratio of 1.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $13.21 and a 200 day moving average of $13.85. Gladstone Land has a 12 month low of $12.72 and a 12 month high of $17.48.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Gladstone Land

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in LAND. Raymond James & Associates boosted its position in shares of Gladstone Land by 18.1% in the first quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 45,872 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock valued at $1,671,000 after acquiring an additional 7,015 shares during the period. HighTower Advisors LLC bought a new position in Gladstone Land in the first quarter worth $463,000. Cetera Advisor Networks LLC acquired a new position in Gladstone Land during the first quarter worth $308,000. MetLife Investment Management LLC raised its stake in Gladstone Land by 55.4% during the first quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 16,827 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $613,000 after acquiring an additional 6,000 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Rhumbline Advisers raised its stake in Gladstone Land by 5.4% during the first quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 39,334 shares of the real estate investment trust's stock worth $1,433,000 after acquiring an additional 2,031 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 53.60% of the company's stock.

About Gladstone Land

Founded in 1997, Gladstone Land is a publicly traded real estate investment trust that acquires and owns farmland and farm-related properties located in major agricultural markets in the U.S. and leases its properties to unrelated third-party farmers. The Company, which reports the aggregate fair value of its farmland holdings on a quarterly basis, currently owns 169 farms, comprised of approximately 116,000 acres in 15 different states and over 45,000 acre-feet of banked water in California, valued at a total of approximately $1.6 billion.