New York, June 2, 2026, 10:10 (EDT)
Gladstone Land Corp. picked up some ground on the Nasdaq Tuesday after naming George “Chip” Stelljes III to its board. The farmland REIT is facing issues with rent collection timing, water expenses and keeping up its dividend. REITs pay out most of their taxable income as dividends. Gladstone Land Corporation
The stock was last seen at $9.255, up 0.7% from where it finished Monday, with around 29,600 shares traded. Farmland Partners, its nearest listed farmland rival, was up 0.6%. The Vanguard Real Estate ETF lost 0.2%. The iShares Russell 2000 ETF, which tracks small-cap stocks, added 0.3%.
The timing is notable given Gladstone Land’s latest quarter left a mixed message. The company reported a net loss for the first quarter of $10.0 million, or 24 cents a share. Adjusted funds from operations, a REIT cash-flow metric, came in at $3.1 million, or 8 cents a share. Gladstone declared common dividends of about 14 cents a share for the quarter.
St. John’s Capital managing partner Stelljes has been named to Gladstone Land’s board for the 2028 class of directors, starting June 1. The company said he will take seats on the compensation, governance and valuation panels. The board goes to eight members, up from seven.
The company’s CEO and chairman David Gladstone said Stelljes will “strengthen our board” and add private-equity background. Stelljes earlier worked in senior jobs at Gladstone Capital, Gladstone Investment, Gladstone Commercial and Gladstone Management—all part of the Gladstone group.
Gladstone Land said in a filing it owns 144 farms with a total of 98,688 acres in 14 U.S. states, plus 55,649 acre-feet of California water assets. The company noted it is directly operating two properties made up of four farms, instead of leasing them out under its typical landlord-tenant model.
Timing is the main focus for now. The company says three farms are still on modified leases that cut or remove fixed base rent. Instead, rent depends more on how crops do. These payments usually come in when harvest results are out, most often in the fourth quarter.
That can leave first-half numbers appearing light, even when later crop settlements provide a boost. It also ties the regular payout more closely to execution, commodity prices, and tenants’ ability to pay.
Gladstone moved about 3.74 million common shares in the first quarter using its at-the-market program, pulling in net proceeds of around $36.7 million. The at-the-market setup lets the company sell shares to raise funds, but it also grows the share count in the process.
Dividend is still the main part of the stock pitch. Gladstone Land sticks with a monthly payout of 4.67 cents, which totals 56.04 cents annually. That means a yield a little over 6% at the most recent share price, before accounting for taxes or any move in the stock.
The setup isn’t one-way. The 10-Q lists 12 leases covering 16,803 acres that run out in 2026. The company said it can’t guarantee those leases get renewed or replaced with new ones on good terms, or at all. If more vacancies hit, crop prices stay weak, tenants get squeezed, water costs go up or the company issues more shares, the stock takes a hit—even if farmland values don’t fall.
