DENVER--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Farmland Partners Inc. (NYSE: FPI) (the “Company” or “FPI”) today announced that its Board of Directors has declared a one-time dividend of $1.15 per share of common stock and Class A Common OP Unit, payable in cash on January 8, 2025 to shareholders of record on December 23, 2024.
The announcement comes at the end of a year that saw the Company sell farmland and related assets for consideration totaling approximately $308 million, generating a total gain for FPI of approximately $51 million, or approximately 20 percent over the aggregate net book value.
“This year has been good for FPI,” said Luca Fabbri, FPI’s President and CEO. “The Company achieved sizeable profits on dispositions, trimmed operational expenses, reduced debt exposure, and increased rental rates on the farmland still within its portfolio – which is some of the best farmland in the world. This special dividend gives us an opportunity to share these successes in a meaningful way with our shareholders, further demonstrating the strength of farmland as an investment class and its historically consistent appreciation.”
The special dividend is required for FPI to remain in compliance with U.S. federal income tax rules for real estate investment trusts (“REITs”). The amount of the special dividend has been calculated based on estimates of operating performance for the year ending December 31, 2024, sales expected to be completed by year end, and book-to-tax adjustments.
The special dividend is in addition to the quarterly dividend of $0.06 per share of common stock and Class A Common OP Unit that FPI declared on October 29, 2024. For more details on the quarterly dividend, please see “Note 12—Subsequent Events” of the Company’s Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended September 30, 2024, as filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on October 31, 2024.
About Farmland Partners Inc.
Farmland Partners Inc. is an internally managed real estate company that owns and seeks to acquire high-quality North American farmland and makes loans to farmers secured by farm real estate. As of the date of this release, the Company owned and/or managed approximately 136,000 acres of farmland in 15 states, including Arkansas, California, Colorado, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, North Carolina, Ohio, South Carolina, and Texas. In addition, the Company owns land and buildings for four agriculture equipment dealerships in Ohio leased to Ag Pro under the John Deere brand. The Company elected to be taxed as a real estate investment trust, or REIT, for U.S. federal income tax purposes, commencing with the taxable year ended December 31, 2014. Additional information: www.farmlandpartners.com or (720) 452-3100.
Forward-Looking Statements
This press release includes “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the federal securities laws, including, without limitation, statements with respect to our outlook and the outlook for the farm economy generally, proposed and pending acquisitions and dispositions, financing activities, crop yields and prices and anticipated rental rates. Forward-looking statements generally can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as “may,” “should,” “could,” “would,” “predicts,” “potential,” “continue,” “expects,” “anticipates,” “future,” “intends,” “plans,” “believes,” “estimates” or similar expressions or their negatives, as well as statements in future tense. Although the Company believes that the expectations reflected in such forward-looking statements are based upon reasonable assumptions, beliefs and expectations, such forward-looking statements are not predictions of future events or guarantees of future performance, and our actual results could differ materially from those set forth in the forward-looking statements. Some factors that might cause such a difference include the following: market factors and other considerations that could result in the Company deciding not to declare and pay a special dividend or to declare and pay a special dividend that is less than stockholders anticipate; the ongoing war in Ukraine and the ongoing conflict in the Middle East and their impacts on the world agriculture market, world food supply, the farm economy generally, and our tenants’ businesses; changes in trade policies in the United States and other countries that import agricultural products from the United States; high inflation and elevated interest rates; the onset of an economic recession in the United States and other countries that impact the farm economy; extreme weather events, such as droughts, tornadoes, hurricanes or floods; the impact of future public health crises on our business and on the economy and capital markets generally; general volatility of the capital markets and the market price of the Company’s common stock; changes in the Company’s business strategy, availability, terms and deployment of capital; the Company’s ability to refinance existing indebtedness at or prior to maturity on favorable terms, or at all; availability of qualified personnel; changes in the Company’s industry, interest rates or the general economy; adverse developments related to crop yields or crop prices; the degree and nature of the Company’s competition; the outcomes of ongoing litigation; the timing, price or amount of repurchases, if any, under the Company's share repurchase program; the ability to consummate acquisitions or dispositions under contract; and the other factors described in the section entitled “Risk Factors” in the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2023, and the Company’s other filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Any forward-looking information presented herein is made only as of the date of this press release, and the Company does not undertake any obligation to update or revise any forward-looking information to reflect changes in assumptions, the occurrence of unanticipated events, or otherwise.
