The Dividend Daily

Technology-based real estate investment trust Digital Realty Trust, Inc. (DLR) reported before the bell on Friday that it saw a rise in fourth quarter earnings and revenue, but results missed the Wall Street projections.

The San Francisco-based company said its fourth quarter funds from operations (FFO) were $159.42 million, or $1.16 per share, up from $126.44 million, or $1.02 per share, in the same quarter a year earlier. Funds from operations is a common metric used by REITs to measure earnings.

According to analysts polled by Thomson Reuters, this slightly missed the average view as the company was expected to earn $1.17 per share.

Total revenue for the quarter was $349.7 million, up from $270.6 million in the year earlier period. The consensus analyst view was that DLR would see revenue of $350.87 million.

Looking forward, Digital Realty says it expects to earn $4.65 and $4.80 per share in 2013, which represents a FFO growth of 4.7% to 8.1% over 2012 FFO of $4.44. Analysts expect the company to report earnings of $4.85 per share in 2013.

Digital Realty Trust shares were inactive during pre-market trading on Friday. Over the past year the stock is down about -5%.

The Bottom Line
Shares of Digital Realty Trust (DLR) have a dividend yield of 4.77% based on last night’s closing price of $65.37 and the company’s annualized dividend payout of $3.12 per share.

Digital Realty Trust, Inc. (DLR) is not recommended at this time, holding a Dividend.com DARS™ Rating of 3.3 out of 5 stars.

Be sure to visit our complete recommended list of the Best Dividend Stocks, as well as a detailed explanation of our ratings system here.