Industry: REIT Specialty

Sector: Real Estate

Founded in 1997, Gladstone Land is a publicly traded real estate investment trust that acquires and owns farmland and farm-related properties located in major agricultural markets in the U.S. and leases its properties to unrelated third-party farmers. The Company, which reports the aggregate fair value of its farmland holdings on a quarterly basis, currently owns 127 farms, comprised of approximately 94,000 acres in 13 different states, valued at approximately $1.0 billion. Gladstone Land's farms are predominantly located in regions where its tenants are able to grow fresh produce annual row crops, such as berries and vegetables, which are generally planted and harvested annually. The Company also owns farms growing permanent crops, such as almonds, apples, figs, olives, pistachios, and other orchards, as well as blueberry groves and vineyards, which are generally planted every 10 to 20-plus years and harvested annually. The Company may also acquire property related to farming, such as cooling facilities, processing buildings, packaging facilities, and distribution centers. The Company pays monthly distributions to its stockholders and has paid 93 consecutive monthly cash distributions on its common stock since its initial public offering in January 2013. The Company has increased its common distributions 20 times over the prior 23 quarters, and the current per-share distribution on its common stock is $0.0449 per month, or $0.5388 per year.

Gladstone Land Corporation is evaluated using Mavefund's quality framework: growing earnings, durable profit margins, conservative leverage, strong return on equity, and disciplined share repurchases.