MGM Growth Properties reports earnings near 1Q 2021 levels

Aria and Vdara in Las Vegas Thursday, July 1, 2021. MGM Resorts International sold the two resorts in 2021 for nearly $3.9 billion combined and leased them back. (K.M. Cannon/Las Vegas Review-Journal) @KMCannonPhoto

Aerial view of the MGM Grand hotel casino on the Las Vegas Strip at sunset on Wednesday, January 12, 2022. MGM Resorts International sold the hotel-casino in 2020 for $2.5 billion as part of a $4.6 billion sale-leaseback transaction that also involved Mandalay Bay. (Michael Quine/Las Vegas Review-Journal) @Vegas88s

Pedestrians walk on pedestrian bridge near the Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas, on Monday, Sep. 27, 2021, in Las Vegas. The Cosmo is sold for $5.65 billion and MGM Resorts International taking over as the resort's operator. (Bizuayehu Tesfaye/Las Vegas Review-Journal) @bizutesfaye

The real estate investment trust affiliated with MGM Resorts International reported first-quarter earnings nearly equal to what the company reported a year ago.

MGM Growth Properties LLC, a REIT that owns the land beneath 13 resorts with 32,700 hotel rooms, 1.7 million square feet of casino space, and 3.6 million convention square footage, on Friday reported net income of $116.5 million, 44 cents a share, on revenue of $201.9 million for the quarter that ended March 31.

A year ago, net income of $115.4 million, 44 cents a share, on revenue of $194.3 million was reported.

Analysts with Zacks Equity Research said the company’s results outperformed its estimates by 2 cents a share. Over the last four quarters, the company has surpassed consensus estimates twice.

The company collected $195.1 million in rental revenue for the quarter.

In mid-March, MGM Growth reported it is paying a quarterly cash dividend of 53 cents per Class A common stock, or $2.12 a share annually. That’s a 2-cent increase from previous dividends and is the 16th dividend increase since MGM Growth’s initial public offering in April 2016.

The dividend was paid April 14 to shareholders of record as of the close of business on March 31.

MGM Resorts International owns 41.5 percent of the shares and MGM Growth shareholders own the rest.

MGM Growth shares, traded on the New York Stock Exchange, were up 52 cents, 1.3 percent, to $41 a share in average trading Monday. After hours, shares continued to climb, up another 95 cents, 2.3 percent, to end around $41.95 a share.

Contact Richard N. Velotta at rvelotta@reviewjournal.com or 702-477-3893. Follow @RickVelotta on Twitter.