BETHESDA, Md.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--JBG SMITH (NYSE: JBGS), a leading owner and developer of high-quality, mixed-use properties in the Washington, DC market, today announced that its Board of Trustees has declared a quarterly dividend of $0.175 per common share, a new indicated annual rate of $0.70 per share, a 22.2% reduction to the prior dividend. The dividend will be paid on March 15, 2024 to common shareholders of record as of March 1, 2024.
Our Board of Trustees, in consultation with management, elected to reduce the dividend taking into consideration several factors, including (i) our on-going capital recycling strategy, (ii) the expected performance and capital requirements of our commercial portfolio, and (iii) the upcoming delivery of our 1,583 under-construction multifamily units (upon delivery, capitalized interest ceases which reduces FAD and taxable income).
We believe the reduced dividend rate will help preserve JBG SMITH’s financial flexibility, reinforce our already strong financial position, continue to cover our taxable income distribution requirements, and enhance the Company’s ability to take advantage of compelling opportunities, such as share repurchases, as they arise. Share buybacks are a form of capital return to investors, as are dividends. At our current discount to NAV, we believe buybacks are more accretive to our long-term NAV per share than excess (above taxable income) dividends. Having bought back approximately 32% of the shares and OP units that were outstanding when we began our buyback program, we have eliminated approximately $33.8 million in annual dividends on those securities at the current dividend level.
About JBG SMITH
JBG SMITH owns, operates, invests in, and develops mixed-use properties in high growth and high barrier-to-entry submarkets in and around Washington, DC. Through an intense focus on placemaking, JBG SMITH cultivates vibrant, amenity-rich, walkable neighborhoods throughout the Washington, DC metropolitan area. Approximately two-thirds of JBG SMITH's holdings are in the National Landing submarket in Northern Virginia, which is anchored by four key demand drivers: Amazon's new headquarters; Virginia Tech's under-construction $1 billion Innovation Campus; the submarket’s proximity to the Pentagon; and JBG SMITH’s deployment of next-generation public and private 5G digital infrastructure. JBG SMITH's dynamic portfolio currently comprises 14.7 million square feet of high-growth office, multifamily, and retail assets at share, 99% of which are Metro-served. It also maintains a development pipeline encompassing 9.8 million square feet of mixed-use, primarily multifamily, development opportunities. JBG SMITH is committed to the operation and development of green, smart, and healthy buildings and plans to maintain carbon neutral operations annually. For more information on JBG SMITH please visit www.jbgsmith.com.
Forward-Looking Statements
Certain statements contained herein may constitute "forward-looking statements" as such term is defined in Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. Forward-looking statements are not guarantees of performance. They represent our intentions, plans, expectations, and beliefs and are subject to numerous assumptions, risks, and uncertainties. Consequently, the future results, financial condition, and business of JBG SMITH Properties ("JBG SMITH", the "Company", "we", "us", "our" or similar terms) may differ materially from those expressed in these forward-looking statements. You can find many of these statements by looking for words such as "approximate", "hypothetical", "potential", "believes", "expects", "anticipates", "estimates", "intends", "plans", "would", "may" or similar expressions in this press release. We also note the following forward-looking statements: our expected annual dividend rate, the expected continuation of our capital recycling strategy, the expected performance and capital requirements of our commercial portfolio, the upcoming delivery of under-construction multifamily units, our ability to preserve JBG SMITH’s financial flexibility, reinforce our already strong financial position, continue to cover our taxable income distribution requirements, and our ability to take advantage of compelling opportunities.
Many of the factors that will determine the outcome of these, and our other forward-looking statements, are beyond our ability to control or predict. These factors include, among others: adverse economic conditions in the Washington, DC metropolitan area, the timing of and costs associated with development and property improvements, financing commitments, and general competitive factors. For further discussion of factors that could materially affect the outcome of our forward-looking statements and other risks and uncertainties, see "Risk Factors," "Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations" and the Cautionary Statement Concerning Forward-Looking Statements in the Company's Annual Report on Form 10‑K for the year ended December 31, 2022, and other periodic reports the Company files with the Securities and Exchange Commission. For these statements, we claim the protection of the safe harbor for forward-looking statements contained in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. You are cautioned not to place undue reliance on our forward-looking statements. All subsequent written and oral forward-looking statements attributable to us or any person acting on our behalf are expressly qualified in their entirety by the cautionary statements contained or referred to in this section. We do not undertake any obligation to release publicly any revisions to our forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances occurring after the date hereof.