REA

About REA

REA Group Ltd (REA) is a digital advertising business specializes in property. REA Group operates Australia's residential and commercial property websites ? realestate.com.au and realcommercial.com.au ? as well as the website dedicated to share property, Flatmates.com.au and property research website, property.com.au. REA Group owns Smartline Home Loans Pty Ltd and Mortgage Choice Pty Ltd, Australian mortgage broking franchise groups, and PropTrack Pty Ltd, provider of property data services.

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What does REA Group Ltd (REA) do?

REA Group Limited runs Realestate.com.au, one of Australia's two property listing behemoths. But this digital property advertising business wishes to “help people with all aspects of their property experience – not just buying, selling, and renting”. 

Headquartered in Richmond, north-west Sydney, and with over 2,800 employees, REA offers property and property-related services on websites and mobile apps throughout Australia, Asia, and North America. Their aim is “changing the way the world experiences property”. 

In Australia, REA Group owns and operates:

• Realestate.com.au — a residential property website

• Realcommercial.com.au — a commercial property website

• Flatmates.com.au — a website dedicated to share properties

• Smartline Home Loans and Mortgage Choice — mortgage broking franchise groups

• PropTrack — a property data services provider

It is also invested in: 

• Simpology — a provider of mortgage application and e-lodgement solutions for the broking and lending industries

• Realtair — a digital platform providing end-to-end technology solutions for the real estate transaction process 

• Campaign Agent — a provider of Buy Now Pay Later (BNPL) solutions for the Australian real estate market 

• Managed Platforms — an emerging property management software platform 

Across Asia, REA Group owns a controlling stake in REA India. Originally known as Elara Group, REA India is the operator of housing.com, makaan.com and proptiger.com. 

REA Group also owns the property portals squarefoot.com.hk in Hong Kong and myfun.com in China, as well as a minority stake in PropertyGuru Group – an operator of property sites throughout Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam and Indonesia.

Lastly, REA Group owns a minority stake in Move, the operator of realtor.com in the United States.

Is REA Group a subsidiary of News Corporation?

Yes. REA Group Limited operates as a subsidiary of Rupert Murdoch’s News Corporation.

It was founded as realestate.com.au Limited in 1995 but the company changed its name to REA Group Limited in December 2008. 

Is REA Group a profitable company?

Yes, REA Group is a profitable company but its net income has been up and down for the past four years.

In FY2018, REA Group earned a net income of A$253m. In FY2019, this dropped over 58% down to A$105m. It climbed ever so slightly in FY2020 by 7% to A$112.4m and skyrocketed in FY2021 by 187% to A$322.7m.

As of FY2021, the company had a free cash flow of A$318.74m on its books.

Is REA stock a good investment?

After a 6-month decline of over 35% from an all-time high of over A$180, the REA stock price hit a 52-week low of A$104 in May 2022. Some reasons for the drop may have been due to inflationary pressures, interest rate hikes, fear of recession and the conflict between Russia and Ukraine.

For some investors, the REA share price weakness presents a long-term buy and hold opportunity, especially as REA stock has paid dividends without fail since 2009. For the more bearish, the price weakness may be a reason to avoid REA stock, especially due to current macroeconomic factors.

Does REA stock pay dividends?

Yes, REA stock has been paying its shareholders dividends since 2009, usually twice a year.

In 2021, REA Group paid a dividend of $0.59 in March and another dividend of $0.72 in September. The company’s most recent dividend payment of $0.75 was made in March 2022.

Unlike many other large-cap Australian companies, REA Group does not offer shareholders a Dividend Reinvestment Plan (DRP). Their DRP was suspended indefinitely on 21 February 2012. The company reconsiders reviving the DRP each year but has not yet made any announcements to do so.

Who owns REA stock?

REA Group operates as a subsidiary of Rupert Murdoch’s News Corporation, which is by far the biggest owner of REA stock. News Corporation holds 61.4% of the total float.

Other significant investors in the business include The Vanguard Group (1.83%), BlackRock (1.17%), Brown Capital Management, LLC (0.86%), Australian Foundation Investment Company Limited (0.42%), Netwealth Investments Ltd. (0.32%), Norges Bank Investment Management (0.24%), Vintage Crop Pty Ltd (0.24%), Geode Capital Management, LLC (0.22%), Vivian Findlow (0.22%) and UBS Asset Management (0.2%).

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