{"id":15153,"date":"2025-05-15T07:25:56","date_gmt":"2025-05-15T07:25:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/finderica.com\/?p=15153"},"modified":"2025-05-15T07:25:56","modified_gmt":"2025-05-15T07:25:56","slug":"will-iron-mountains-dividend-keep-climbing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/finderica.com\/?p=15153","title":{"rendered":"Will Iron Mountain\u2019s Dividend Keep Climbing?"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Last week, we ran a poll to see which stock you wanted us to review based on previous requests from Wealthy Retirement<\/em> readers.<\/p>\n

The winner was Iron Mountain<\/strong> (NYSE: IRM), a real estate investment trust, or REIT, that\u2019s focused on data management and storage.<\/p>\n

The company pays a $0.785 per share quarterly dividend, which comes out to a 3.2% yield.<\/p>\n

Is the dividend safe, or should investors consider getting off the mountain?<\/p>\n

Since the company is a REIT, we\u2019re going to use adjusted funds from operations (AFFO) as our measure of cash flow.<\/p>\n

Over the past several years, Iron Mountain\u2019s AFFO has been steadily growing. In 2024, AFFO totaled $1.3 billion, up from $1.2 billion the prior year. This year, AFFO is forecast to grow to $1.5 billion.<\/p>\n

For most companies, I want to see a payout ratio of 75% of their cash flow or less.<\/p>\n

However, with REITs, I am comfortable with a company paying out all<\/em> of its cash flow in dividends. By law, REITs must pay 90% or more of their earnings in dividends, and they often exist for the purpose of paying dividends to shareholders. Therefore, they usually have higher payout ratios than a typical company.<\/p>\n

Iron Mountain paid shareholders 59% of its AFFO in dividends in 2024. According to forecasts, the payout ratio should dip to 54% this year. So its payout ratio is healthy. As long as a REIT\u2019s payout ratio is below 100%, I\u2019m fine with it.<\/p>\n

The company also has a solid dividend-raising track record.<\/p>\n

It began paying a dividend in 2010 and has raised it every year since, except during the pandemic between 2020 and 2022. It began boosting the dividend again in 2023.<\/p>\n

<\/a>\"Chart:<\/a><\/p>\n

Iron Mountain doesn\u2019t have the highest yield in the REIT space, but its dividend is reliable and growing. With increasing cash flow and a solid history of annual dividend raises (as long as there isn\u2019t a pandemic happening), the company\u2019s dividend has a very low risk of being cut in the near future.<\/p>\n

Dividend Safety Rating: A<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"Dividend<\/p>\n

What stock\u2019s dividend safety would you like me to analyze next? Leave the ticker in the comments section.<\/p>\n

You can also take a look to see whether we\u2019ve written about your favorite stock recently. Just click on the word \u201cSearch\u201d at the top right part of the Wealthy Retirement<\/em> homepage, type in the company name, and hit \u201cEnter.\u201d<\/p>\n

Also, keep in mind that Safety Net can analyze only individual stocks, not exchange-traded funds, mutual funds, or closed-end funds.<\/a><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n