Key Points
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W.P. Carey offers a lofty 5.8% dividend yield.
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The real estate investment trust cut its dividend in 2023.
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Investors may not appreciate the growth potential for this industrial focused net lease REIT.
The S&P 500 index (SNPINDEX: ^GSPC) is offering a tiny 1.3% or so yield and it is trading near all-time highs. That’s not a great backdrop for dividend investors trying to find high-yield stocks. But if you take your time and do your research, you can still find attractive income opportunities. W.P. Carey (NYSE: WPC) and its 5.8% yield could be just what you are looking for, if you don’t mind buying when other investors are selling.
What is a net lease REIT?
W.P. Carey is a net lease real estate investment trust (REIT). That means it generally owns single-tenant properties for which the tenant is responsible for most property-level expenses. W.P. Carey competes with large peers like Realty Income (NYSE: O) and NNN REIT (NYSE: NNN). Realty Income is the largest player in this segment, with a market cap of about $50 billion. W.P. Carey is No. 2 at $13 billion, with NNN REIT coming in at about $8 billion.
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Net lease REITs tend to be fairly boring and reliable income stocks. The big driver of the business is sale/leaseback deals that are more of a financing transaction for the seller. Which is why all three of these stocks are out of favor right now because higher interest rates crimp the profitability of net lease REITs and their ability to ink new deals. W.P. Carey’s stock has performed the worst, down about 30% from its highs in 2019.
Some of that underperformance can be attributed to one simple fact. NNN REIT has increased its dividend annually for 36 years. Realty Income has increased its dividend annually for 30 years. W.P. Carey cut its dividend in 2023. But don’t skip W.P. Carey for this reason because it has a lot to offer.
NNN data by YCharts
What’s different about W.P. Carey?
The first issue to address is the dividend cut, though “dividend reset” is probably a better characterization of the event. In 2023 W.P. Carey made the decision to exit the troubled office sector and sell its office holdings. That move necessitated lowering the dividend because of the size of the office property segment in its portfolio. It is now focused on industrial, warehouse, and retail properties, all of which are more lucrative property segments. The company started increasing the dividend again the quarter after the cut and has been increased each quarter since, which is the same pattern as before the reduction.
The portfolio is in much better shape today than it was before the office exit. And the industrial and warehouse focus sets W.P. Carey apart from Realty Income and NNN, which both focus heavily on retail. Pairing W.P. Carey with one of these two net lease REIT peers could actually make a nice combination that covers a lot of ground.
But the big story is that W.P. Carey’s office exit left it with cash to invest in new properties. It has been putting that money to work and that will likely boost growth during the next couple of years. Notably, net lease giant Realty Income’s last dividend hike amounted to a year-over-year increase of 0.2%. W.P. Carey’s last increase was over 3% year over year.
That’s a trend that is likely to continue during the near term as new acquisitions start to generate cash flow. But there’s more to the story, because W.P. Carey tends to build inflation-linked rent escalators into its leases. That further supports growth and sets the company apart from its peers, which aren’t as aggressive on this point.
Don’t discount W.P. Carey because of the cut
When investors look at the net lease REIT sector they often default to Realty Income or NNN REIT. That’s not a bad thing, but don’t overlook the opportunity W.P. Carey presents. Up until the dividend reset, the company had raised its payout for 24 consecutive years. And given W.P. Carey’s relatively strong dividend growth, it could be well worth stepping aboard even for conservative investors once they understand the backstory.
Most important, however, is the differentiated property focus offered by W.P. Carey, given its emphasis on industrial and warehouse assets. If you are looking at Realty Income or NNN REIT, you might actually want to buy them and add W.P. Carey, too, to more fully round out your net lease exposure.
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Reuben Gregg Brewer has positions in Realty Income and W.P. Carey. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Realty Income. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
