Real estate investment trust Uniti Group (NASDAQ: UNIT) was spun off from Windstream to own the telecommunications company's fiber optic assets. The two companies are still tied at the hip, which goes a long way toward explaining Uniti's huge 18% dividend yield.

Here are some reasons dividend investors should tread with caution despite a modest adjusted funds from operations (FFO) payout ratio of just 34% in 2022.

Dividend investors have to consider a number of important factors when looking at a stock. One of the key figures is the payout ratio. This metric compares the dividend payment to a company's earnings, with lower percentages suggesting that the dividend is safe. The fact that the payout ratio for Uniti's adjusted FFO -- the real estate investment trust (REIT) version of adjusted earnings -- was a very low 34% in 2022 should inspire confidence in the REIT's ability to maintain its quarterly disbursement of $0.15 per share 

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Source Fool.com