WP Carey Inc Bumps Dividend for 79 Consecutive Quarters

 

WPC Stock May Be the Best REIT Stock Out There

 


For income investors, it’s all about the dividends. That means finding a company that not only has a strong enough balance sheet to provide stable dividends, but a company that has a long history of raising its dividends. For income-starved investors who’ve seen their portfolios take a beating during the coronavirus pandemic, it might be time to put WP Carey Inc (NYSE:WPC) on the radar.

 

If you’re looking for a real estate investment trust (REIT) to help weather stock market volatility, WP Carey stock could be it.

 

In addition to being one of the largest net lease REITs on the planet, WP Carey has the distinction of having one of the best dividends anywhere. The company has raised its annual dividends for 23 consecutive years and has raised its quarterly dividends for 79 consecutive quarters. It currently pays an annual dividend of $4.19 per share, for a dividend yield of 5.6%.

 

It’s tough to argue with numbers like that.

 

WP Carey has an enterprise value of approximately $19.0 billion and a diverse portfolio of 1,261 net lease properties in 25 countries. The vast majority of the properties are in the U.S. (62.4%) and Europe (35.6%). (Source: “Portfolio,” WP Carey Inc, last accessed May 18, 2021.)

 

 

Those properties cover a total of 146 million square feet (roughly 2,535 NFL football fields). WP Carey has an occupancy rate of 98.3% and leases with rent escalations that total 99%. The annualized base rent (ABR) across the company’s portfolio is $1.2 billion.

 

WP Carey Inc’s top 10 tenants represent 21.5% of its ABR and have a weighted average lease term of 12.1 years. These tenants are:


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