City Office REIT Bumps up Quarterly Dividend by 33.3%

City Office REIT (NYSE: CIO) hiked its quarterly dividend by 33.3% to $0.20 per share of common shares for the fourth quarter of 2021.

Located in the Southern and Western United States, CIO is an internally-managed Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT) with a focus on acquisition, ownership, and operations of high-quality office properties.

Following the announcement, shares of the company gained 3.3% to close at $18.40 on December 17.

The dividend is payable on January 25, 2022, to shareholders on record as of January 11, 2022. Furthermore, the Board has also authorized a quarterly dividend of $0.4140625 per share of the company’s 6.625% Series A Redeemable Preferred Stock. 

Management Weighs In

City Office Chairman, John McLernon, stated, “Through the execution of our capital recycling strategy, City Office is positioned to increase the Company’s quarterly dividend level.”

He further added, “Our strategy of reinvesting the proceeds from the recent life science portfolio sale into premier office properties has positioned City Office for enhanced earnings per share and long-term cash flow growth.”

Analysts Recommendation

On November 19, RBC Capital analyst Michael Carroll downgraded City Office to Hold from Buy with a price target of $19 (3.3% upside potential).

Wall Street’s Take

The Wall Street community is cautiously optimistic about the stock, with a Moderate Buy consensus rating based on 1 Buy and 2 Holds. The average City Office REIT price target of $19.67 implies 6.9% upside potential to current levels.

Bloggers Weigh In

TipRanks data shows that financial blogger opinions are 100% Bullish on CIO, compared to a sector average of 69%.

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