Stocks sank in early trading as investors awaited Fed Chair Jerome Powell’s speech at the central bank’s annual symposium in Wyoming. Wall Street will be looking for clues on where Fed policy is headed this fall.
Despite yesterday’s gains, the major averages were on track for their second negative week in a row. Kicking off the week’s final session, the S&P 500 was on track for a 0.7% loss, the Nasdaq Composite was down 0.5%, and the Dow was 1.2% lower.
With so much market turbulence in 2022, investors have been seeking shelter among so-called “safety trades.” Stocks with relatively low volatility that come along with a reliable payout can bring peace of mind during uncertain times. Today we’ll focus on one such stock.
Boston-based, Information management services company Iron Mountain Inc. (IRM) provides information destruction, records management, and data backup and recovery services to more than 220,000 customers in 58 countries. The company has around 1,500 leased warehouse spaces and underground storage facilities around the world.
As a testament to Iron Mountain’s leadership in its core storage business, the company serves 225,000 customers, including about 95% of the Fortune 1000 companies. As for what the company stores, the wills of Princess Di and Charles Darwin are housed in their facilities, as well as the original recordings of Frank Sinatra and Bill Gates’ Corbis photographic collection.
The need for Iron Mountain’s physical facilities will likely never disappear. Still, as digital storage becomes more widely adopted, the company should continue to grow along with its global data-center business, contributing 8% of adjusted earnings in 2021. It continues to generate over $2 billion per year in revenue from its core storage business while strategically growing its data center portfolio, which is an optimistic sign for steady growth in the coming years.
IRM has maintained a $0.62 per share quarterly dividend since 2019 as it has been focused on steadily recovering its payout ratio from the pandemic. The AFFO came in at $0.93 for the second quarter, a 9.4% year-over-year improvement. The company uses its recurring income to pay an attractive dividend — it currently yields 4.5%. Management’s target for a low to mid 60’s % dividend payout ratio seems to be quickly approaching, after which they see the dividend increasing from the current level of 5.26%.
Where to invest $1,000 right now...
Before you consider buying Iron Mountain, you'll want to see this.
Investing legend, Keith Kohl just revealed his #1 stock for 2022...
And it's not Iron Mountain.
Jeff Bezos, Peter Thiel, and the Rockefellers are betting a colossal nine figures on this tiny company that trades publicly for $5.
Keith say’s he thinks investors will be able to turn a small $50 stake into $150,000.
Find that to be extraordinary?
Click here to watch his presentation, and decide for yourself...
But you have to act now, because a catalyst coming in a few weeks is set to take this company mainstream... And by then, it could be too late.
Click here to find out the name and ticker of Keith's #1 pick...
