Shares of leading cannabis-focused real estate investment trust (REIT) Innovative Industrial Properties (IIPR 0.44%) are up 16% this week as of 3 p.m. ET on Friday after the company announced fourth-quarter earnings. While revenue and funds from operations (FFO) each declined 13% in Q4, these figures easily exceeded Wall Street's expectations, helping push shares higher. A lot of this slowdown stems from litigation tied to defaults will that keep resolving with time, so the drop in revenue and FFO is worse than it really is, and the market responded accordingly. Not to mention the fact that IIP's shares are down 73% over the last five years, so there wasn't an incredible high hurdle for the stock to jump over in Q4.
NYSE: IIPR
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Now paying a staggering 13.9% dividend yield, the company needs FFO to start rebounding at some point to maintain its current payout level. However, Chairmen of the Board and co-founder Alan Gold is optimistic, explaining:
We're seeing strong releasing activity which is driving revenue ... and we have the resolutions of some of these major lease litigations. And with those resolutions, and the activity, the leasing activity we're seeing, we continuously feel positive about where we are with regards to our dividend.
Image source: Getty Images.
Additionally, the company announced it had funded $150 million of its $270 million commitment to IQHQ, an upstart life sciences REIT, where Alan Gold just spent the last six years as executive chair. IIP is set to receive a 13.5% yield on its $100 million, 3-year revolving credit facility with IQHQ, as well as a 15% yield from its $170 million investment in the life sciences RETI's preferred stock. Since Alan Gold co-founded one of today's largest life sciences REITs, Alexandria Real Estate Equities, I'm optimistic about IIP's chances of success as it diversifies into the new industry.
Trading with an Enterprise Value to FFO ratio of just 9, and a net debt to EBITDA ratio of only 1.4 times, IIP is an intriguing REIT to consider thanks to tailwinds from the cannabis and life sciences industries.
