CT Real Estate Investment Trust (TSE:CRT.UN): Dividend Is Coming In 3 Days, Should You Buy?

On the 15 May 2018, CT Real Estate Investment Trust (TSX:CRT.UN) will be paying shareholders an upcoming dividend amount of CA$0.06 per share. However, investors must have bought the company's stock before 27 April 2018 in order to qualify for the payment. That means you have only 3 days left! Should you diversify into CT Real Estate Investment Trust and boost your portfolio income stream? Well, keep on reading because today, I'm going to look at the latest data and analyze the stock and its dividend property in further detail. See our latest analysis for CT Real Estate Investment Trust

5 checks you should do on a dividend stock

When researching a dividend stock, I always follow the following screening criteria:

• Is its annual yield among the top 25% of dividend-paying companies?
• Has it consistently paid a stable dividend without missing a payment or drastically cutting payout?
• Has dividend per share amount increased over the past?
• Can it afford to pay the current rate of dividends from its earnings?
• Based on future earnings growth, will it be able to continue to payout dividend at the current rate?

How does CT Real Estate Investment Trust fare?

REITs are a special-case dividend payer. This is because a high percentage of their earnings are required to be paid out as dividends. The company currently pays out 109.26% of its earnings as a dividend, according to its trailing twelve-month data, meaning that a portion of dividend payments are funded by retained earnings. In the near future, analysts are predicting a more sensible payout ratio of 69.73%, leading to a dividend yield of 5.60%. If there's one type of stock you want to be reliable, it's dividend stocks and their stable income-generating ability. Unfortunately, it is really too early to view CT Real Estate Investment Trust as a dividend investment. It has only been consistently paying dividends for 4 years, however, standard practice for reliable payers is to look for a 10-year minimum track record. Relative to peers, CT Real Estate Investment Trust generates a yield of 5.47%, which is on the low-side for REITs stocks.

Next Steps:

Whilst there are few things you may like about CT Real Estate Investment Trust from a dividend stock perspective, the truth is that overall it probably is not the best choice for a dividend investor. However, if you are not strictly just a dividend investor, the stock could still offer some interesting investment opportunities. Given that this is purely a dividend analysis, you should always research extensively before deciding whether or not a stock is an appropriate investment for you. I always recommend analysing the company's fundamentals and underlying business before making an investment decision. There are three essential aspects you should further examine:

1. Valuation: What is CRT.UN worth today? Even if the stock is a cash cow, it's not worth an infinite price. The intrinsic value infographic in our free research report helps visualize whether CRT.UN is currently mispriced by the market.
2. Management Team: An experienced management team on the helm increases our confidence in the business – take a look at who sits on CT Real Estate Investment Trust’s board and the CEO’s back ground.
3. Dividend Rockstars: Are there better dividend payers with stronger fundamentals out there? Check out our free list of these great stocks here.

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Simply Wall St analyst Simply Wall St and Simply Wall St have no position in any of the companies mentioned. This article is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material.