Realty Income Has Raised Payout for 31 Consecutive Years
It’s impossible to talk about reliable dividend payers and not delve into Realty Income Corp (NYSE:O). The company bills itself as “The Monthly Dividend Company” and it is the gold standard for income hogs.
Realty Income has raised its monthly distribution 134 times since listing on the NYSE in 1994. It has also paid out 670 consecutive monthly dividends. In addition to arguable the best monthly payout on Wall Street, O stock has also been outperforming the S&P 500; up approximately 15% year to date and 16% over the last six months.
What does Realty Income do? It’s the world’s largest triple-net REIT in the U.S, with over 15,500 real estate properties owned under long-term net lease agreements in all 50 states, the U.K. and eight other countries in Europe, including France, Germany, and Italy. Under a triple net lease tenants cover property level expenses under long term contracts. (Source: “Investor Presentation,” Realty Income, last accessed May 5, 2026.)
It diversified portfolio includes 1,700+ different clients operating in 92 separate industries with a gross asset value of $82 billion.
Covering 355 million square feet (6,163 NFL fields), the REIT’s properties are under long-term net leases. The occupancy rate is a strong 98.9%.
Of the top five industries, Grocery stores account for the largest percentage of the company’s contractual rent, at 11.1%. This is followed by:
- Convenience stores – 9.6%
- Home Improvement – 6.4%
- Drug Stores – 6.1%
- Restaurants – quick Service – 4.8%
Some of the company’s top clients include 7-Eleven, Dollar General Corp (NYSE:DG), FedEx Corporation (NYSE:FDX), Walmart Inc (NYSE:WMT), Wynn Resorts, Limited (NASDAQ: WYNN), Kroger Co (NYSE:KR), and Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc (NASDAQ:WBA).
The vast majority of its tenants are resistant to recession and the onslaught of e-commerce, with some even thriving during economic downturns.
Announces New Joint Venture With Apollo
Realty Income is big, but a new Joint Venture (JV) will help it get a lot bigger. In late March the company entered into a $1.0 billion joint venture (JV) with Apollo to help it expand in the European net lease real estate market. (Source: “Realty Income and Apollo to Establish Strategic Partnership,” Realty Capital Inc, last accessed May 5, 2026.)
The expansion into Europe gives Realty Income greater exposure to a new set of tenants. Since 2020, Apollo has originated over $100 billion of capital solutions for companies such as Intel Corp (NASDAQ:INTL), Keurig Dr Pepper (NASDAQ:KDP), BP (NYSE:BP), Sony (NYSE:SONY), and AB InBev (NYSE:BUD).
Through the new JV, the current number of properties totals around 500 with annualized base rent of $140 million. The weighted average remaining lease term is 9.1 years.
Increases 2026 AFFO Per Share Guidance
For the first quarter ended March 31, 2026, Realty Income announced that net income increased 25% on an annual basis to $311.8 million, or $0.33 per share. Adjusted Funds from Operations (AFFO) increased 6.6% to $1.13 per share. (Source: “REALTY INCOME ANNOUNCES OPERATING RESULTS FOR,” Realty Income Corporation, May 6, 2026.)
First quarter revenue was up 12% at $1.548.7 billion.
During the quarter it invested $2.6 billion, and its pipeline remains very active. As a result, management increased its full-year investment guidance to $9.5 billion from $8 billion.
Commenting on the first quarter results, Sumit Roy, CEO said, “Our first quarter results underscore the strength and resiliency of our global investment and operating platforms. Importantly, we demonstrated significant progress towards a key strategic goal of diversifying our sources of permanent equity beyond the public markets.”
Looking ahead, Roy said that given the strong momentum across the business, it increased its 2026 AFFO per share guidance range to $4.41 to $4.44, reflecting projected annual per share growth of 3.0% to 3.7%.
“Our outlook is a testament to the unmatched scale, track record and operating capabilities of our global net lease enterprise,” he said.
Distributes 670th Consecutive Monthly Dividend
If you’re going to call yourself The Monthly Dividend Company, you have to live up to the expectations. And Realty Income does. In April it announced its 670th consecutive monthly dividend. (Source: “Realty Income Announces 670th Consecutive Common Stock Monthly Dividend,” Realty Income Corporation, April 14, 2026.)
The payout was $0.2705 per share, or $3.24 on an annualized basis for a forward annual dividend yield of 5.10%.
That yield is significantly higher than the average yield of the S&P 500, which is approximately 1.08%. The yield also outpacing the current inflation level of 3.3%.
O Stock Has Great Long-Term Capital Appreciation
You can only distribute a monthly dividend for more than 50 years and raise it for more than 31 consecutive years if you’re throwing off a lot of cash. Which means the company is doing well.
Consistently reliable results translates into happy shareholders which typically means a higher share price. And O stock has been providing shareholders with great long term capital appreciation.
Over the last 20 years with dividends reinvested, total return is 718%. Not reinvesting dividends reduces the return to 185%.
Since its October 1994 listing on the NYSE, O stock has provided total return of more than 4,800%, far better than the 2,507% return from the S&P 500, 2,746% return the S&P Dividend Aristocrats, and total Dow Jones Industrial Average return of 2,218%.
Again, over the near term O has been performing well too, up 15% year to date and 16% over the last six months, and 18% over the last year.
The outlook for O stock remains solid as well with Wall Street analyst’s providing a 12 month share price target range of $66.86 to $72. This points to potential upside of 5.1% to 13.2%.
Chart courtesy of StockCharts.com
The Lowdown on Realty Income Corp
When it comes to a reliable, growing dividend, it’s tough to beat Realty Income Corporation. Calling itself The Monthly Dividend Company, Realty Income is member of the S&P 500 Dividend Aristocrats index, has a history of reporting solid financial results, and continues to expand its property portfolio both here in the U.S. and in Europe. This bodes well for the company’s monthly dividend, which it has paid for 670 consecutive months…and counting.