Cross Timbers Royalty Trust

I had read about Cross Timbers Royalty Trust (listed on the US stock exchange) many years ago and had placed it in my stock watchlist but never got the chance to look at it.  All along, I thought this monthly dividend paying stock was involved in timbers or harvesting of logs.  And so I was a little hesitant to invest in it.

To my surprise, Cross Timbers Royalty Trust (or CRT as per its ticker symbol on NYSE) has nothing to do with timbers.  One wonders why they give such a name to this trust anyway. As I speak, it is currently trading at US$26.37 and pays out a regular monthly dividend.  The last dividend paid out was in October at around 18.62 cents per share.  Of course, as a foreigner, one will probably incur some kind of withholding tax.

A little about CRT.  It is an express trust and the principal asset of the trust is the net profit interests.  I guess this means it does not hold any physical assets and that the only thing it has is derived from the interests in profits it obtains from various royalty interest properties (oil and gas) located in Texas, Oklahoma and New Mexico.  Its website is also pretty simple and sparse with little information.  All the properties are owned by XTO Energy Inc. Bank of America, N.A. is the trustee.

This monthly dividend paying stock is trading near its  52 week low probably because of a steady decline in its dividends.  DPU for the 3rd Quarter of 2012 was $0.544601 as compared to 3Q2011 of  $0.860987.  The lower distributions have been attributed to lower gas prices, decreased oil/gas production and increased development costs.

Not yet vested but watching it closely.