{"data":{"id":"sw_daa9ff4ee9a51659deb0","slug":"brt-apartments-7-55-yield-carries-weak-dividend-safety-score-amid-12-8x-leverage","title":"BRT Apartments' 7.55% Yield Carries Weak Dividend Safety Score Amid 12.8x Leverage","subheadline":"The multifamily REIT's high headline yield sits against thin 1.6x interest coverage and a payout ratio above 100% of operating cash flow.","summary":"BRT Apartments Corp's 7.55% dividend yield comes with a Weak Dividend Safety Score of 28/100, reflecting 12.8x net debt to EBITDA, 1.6x interest coverage and a 110% operating cash flow payout ratio.","body":"BRT Apartments Corp., the Great Neck, New York based real estate investment trust that owns and operates multifamily residential properties, is trading with a dividend yield of 7.55% alongside a composite Dividend Safety Score of 28 out of 100, a reading classified as Weak. The gap between the stock's elevated headline yield and its low safety reading is tied to three figures sitting side by side in the company's trailing twelve month data through June 30, 2026: net debt to EBITDA of 12.8 times, EBITDA basis interest coverage of 1.6 times, and an operating cash flow payout ratio of 110%.\n\nEach of those figures describes a different piece of the same picture. A payout ratio above 100% means the company distributed more in dividends over the trailing year than it generated from operations, leaving no cushion from current cash flow alone. Interest coverage of 1.6 times means operating earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization cover interest expense less than twice over, a thinner buffer than is typical among lower leveraged REITs. Net debt to EBITDA of 12.8 times indicates the balance sheet carries a heavy debt load relative to the cash flow available to service it. The combination of a high payout ratio, thin coverage and elevated leverage first stood out in data tracked on Dividendly, a Madison Labs research site that publishes dividend scores for thousands of US listed equities.\n\nFor income focused investors, the significance is less about any single metric and more about how they compound. A REIT can sustain a high leverage ratio if coverage is strong, or thin coverage if leverage is modest, but BRT's trailing data shows both measures stretched at once while the dividend itself continues to be paid from a mix of operating cash flow and other sources. One reading of the data is that the 7.55% yield, which sits at the 95th percentile of the stock's own trailing 98 month end yields, may be compensating holders for exactly this kind of balance sheet and coverage risk rather than reflecting unusually attractive income on a risk adjusted basis.\n\nBRT was founded in 1972 and has paid a regular dividend without interruption for nine consecutive years, a record that supports part of its dividend history even as recent growth has stalled. The company recorded zero consecutive annual dividend increases through 2025, and its five year dividend compound annual growth rate from 2020 through 2025 was 2.6%, modest by REIT sector standards. Revenue grew faster over a similar window, expanding at an 11.2% compound annual rate from fiscal 2022 through fiscal 2025, while operating cash flow per share declined at a 2.4% compound annual rate over the same stretch, a divergence that helps explain why the payout ratio has climbed even as the top line expanded.\n\nOn valuation, BRT shares closed at $13.24 as of October 26, 2026, up 0.23% on the day, within a 52 week range of $12.85 to $15.63. Price to operating cash flow stands at 17.3 times, close to its own five year median of 17.9 times but above a REIT and real estate sector peer median of 12.6 times, a premium of roughly 37% to that peer group of 112 securities. Operating cash flow yield is 5.5% on a trailing twelve month basis.\n\nThe broader market backdrop adds another layer of context for leveraged, dividend paying REITs generally. Treasury yields were reported turning slightly higher in recent trading, a move that, when sustained, tends to raise the relative appeal of lower risk fixed income and can increase refinancing costs for companies carrying heavy debt loads, a dynamic that matters more for REITs with thin interest coverage than for those with stronger buffers. Equity markets more broadly showed a mixed session, with some large caps swinging sharply in either direction, underscoring that income oriented REIT names are trading within a volatile wider tape rather than in isolation.\n\nLooking ahead, dividend focused investors tracking BRT will likely watch whether operating cash flow recovers enough to narrow the gap between the payout ratio and available cash generation, and whether interest coverage improves as the company's debt matures and is potentially refinanced. The company's own Dividend Safety Score framework flags that it falls short of the threshold used to classify a dividend as \"Solid,\" which requires a safety score of 70 or higher alongside a yield of at least 2%. BRT's dividend growth has also not met the three consecutive years of increases used to classify growth as \"Accelerating.\" Whether future quarters show improvement in leverage and coverage, rather than further reliance on a payout ratio above operating cash flow, is likely to remain the central question for anyone assessing the durability of the current dividend, separate from any view on the stock's price performance.","source":{"name":"Dividendly","slug":"dividendly"},"category":"Dividends","article_type":"News","license":"Free to republish, in full or in part, with attribution to Capital Data Wire and a link to the original article. No fees, registration, or permission required.","quality_score":89,"human_reviewed":false,"original_url":"https://dividendly.ai/stock/BRT","featured_image":null,"published_at":"2026-10-26T11:29:46.687991+00:00","updated_at":"2026-10-26T11:29:46.687991+00:00","is_demo":false,"attribution":"Via Capital Data Wire. Discovered via Dividendly.","attribution_html":"Via Capital Data Wire. Discovered via Dividendly."},"meta":{"demo_data":false}}