Brixmor Property Group (BRX) reinstates dividend for fourth quarter.

Brixmor Property Group (BRX) announced today that it will reinstate its quarterly common stock dividend commencing with a $0.215/share declaration for the fourth quarter of 2020.  The dividend is payable on January 15, 2021 to shareholders of record on January 6, 2021.  The company noted that the annual dividend rate would be at a run rate of $0.86/share, suggesting that this is the amount targeted for 2021.

The new dividend rate of $0.215/quarter represents a 25% reduction from the prior dividend rate in effect for 2019 and the first quarter of 2020.  Like other retail REITs, Brixmor's decision to suspend the 2nd and 3rd quarter 2020 dividends was directly related to the COVID-19 pandemic.  However the prior dividend also represented a relatively high payout ratio of earnings ( 91% of 2019 AFFO) and was not completely covered on a taxable basis from ordinary income (21% return of capital in 2019).

Brixmor Property owns and manages a national portfolio of grocery-anchored shopping centers. The current portfolio includes approximately 395 properties with 69 million sf of GLA, with regional concentrations in metro NYC, Philadelphia, Houston, Dallas and Chicago. BRX has a total market capitalization of approximately $9.0 billion and is a component of the S&P MidCap 400 index.

11/05/2020