Realty Income Raises Monthly Dividend for 137th Time

Some landlords send rent bills every month. Realty Income sends its shareholders checks. The REIT said Tuesday it will raise its monthly dividend to $0.2740 a share from $0.2715, payable Dec. 15 to holders of record on Nov. 30 ^[1].

That works out to $3.288 a year per share, up from $3.258, the company said ^[1].

How we got here

• The company owned or held interests in 15,536 properties leased to 1,842 clients at the end of September ^[2].
• Just 182 properties sat empty and on offer for lease or sale, leaving occupancy at 98.8% ^[2].
• Third-quarter AFFO, the cash flow measure REITs pay dividends from, rose 3.7% to $1.12 a share ^[2].
• The company invested $2.6 billion in the quarter at a 6.8% initial weighted average cash yield ^[2].

But the raise is small. By our math, the new monthly payout is about 0.9% higher than the old one. And Treasurys now offer stiff competition: the 10-year yield was 4.98% on Nov. 10, according to the Treasury ^[3]. Realty Income also took on $1.0 billion of 3.750% convertible notes in the quarter to help fund growth ^[2].

What it means for you

For an income investor, the math is plain. By our math, 1,000 shares now pay about $3,288 a year, $30 more than before. Monthly dividends paid in the third quarter equaled 72.6% of AFFO per share, which leaves a cushion ^[2]. Compare that payout against a Treasury yield before buying any REIT for income, since prices fall when rates rise.

Zoom out

Realty Income raised its 2026 AFFO guidance to $4.45 to $4.46 a share and kept a $10.0 billion investment target ^[2]. Net lease landlords with long leases, about 8.5 years on average here, are leaning on scale while higher rates squeeze smaller buyers ^[2].