My Smartest Dividend Stock to Buy Today

Key Points

• Vici is maintaining a perfect occupancy rate as its grows its AFFO and dividends.

• It locks its tenants into sticky long-term leases and investment deals.

• Its low valuation and high yield will limit its downside potential.

• 10 stocks we like better than Vici Properties ›

Blue chip dividend stocks are often considered reliable investments for conservative income investors. But in 2022 and 2023, many of those stocks lost their luster as rising interest rates drove those investors toward risk-free CDs and Treasuries that paid higher yields.

However, the Federal Reserve cut its benchmark rates three times in 2024, and it’s widely expected to execute at least two more rate cuts this year. As those lower rates reduce the yields of CDs and Treasuries again, more investors will likely pivot back toward high-yield dividend stocks with low valuations, wide moats, and evergreen business models.

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One of my favorite dividend stocks that checks all three boxes is Vici Properties (NYSE: VICI), the experiential real estate investment trust (REIT) that owns dozens of casino and entertainment properties across the U.S. and Canada. I started to accumulate Vici’s stock in early 2024, and it now accounts for about 4.5% of my portfolio. Let me explain why I think it’s still a smart income stock to buy today as the market hovers near its all-time highs.

What sets Vici Properties apart from other REITs?

As a REIT, Vici buys a lot of properties, rents them out, and splits the rental income with its investors. To maintain a favorable tax rate, REITs must pay out at least 90% of their pre-tax income as dividends. They usually gauge their profitability (and ability to support their dividends) through their adjusted funds from operations (AFFO) per share.

Unlike larger REITs that own hundreds or thousands of properties, Vici only owned 93 properties at the end of its latest quarter. But it maintained a perfect occupancy rate of 100% across all of those properties as it steadily grew its AFFO per share to cover its rising dividends.

Data source: Vici Properties.

Vici’s top tenants include Caesar’s Entertainment (NASDAQ: CZR), MGM Resorts (NYSE: MGM), Penn Entertainment (NASDAQ: PENN), and Century Casinos (NASDAQ: CNTY). It’s been expanding beyond casino resorts through its leases for Bowlero’s bowling alleys, Chelsea Piers, Canyon Ranch leases, and Great Wolf Resorts.

Vici maintained its perfect occupancy rate by locking those tenants into multidecade leases. The strict government regulations for casinos also make it difficult for those companies to abruptly break their leases and relocate their businesses.

Vici also tightly controls its expenses in three ways. First, it’s a triple net lease REIT, so its tenants need to pay their own real estate taxes, insurance premiums, and maintenance expenses. Second, Vici ties most of its leases to the consumer price index (CPI), which allows it to raise its rent to keep pace with inflation. Lastly, it stopped acquiring new properties as interest rates rose, and it reinvested its cash into its Partner Property Growth Fund (PPGF) — which provides capital to its tenants for renovations and other property upgrades. In exchange for those reinvestments, Vici raises the rents for those tenants under their existing lease agreements.

Why is Vici still worth buying today?

For the full year, Vici expects its adjusted FFO per share to grow 4% to 5% to $2.35 to $2.37 per share, which will comfortably cover its forward annual dividend of $1.73 per share. That translates to a forward yield of 5.3% and easily exceeds the 10-Year Treasury’s 4.4% yield. At $33 per share, Vici’s stock still looks cheap at less than 14 times this year’s AFFO per share. That low valuation and high yield should limit its downside potential even if the market pulls back, and it should attract more income-oriented investors as interest rates decline. That’s why it’s a smart dividend stock to buy right now — and a great stock to buy, hold, and forget for a few decades.

Should you invest $1,000 in Vici Properties right now?

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Leo Sun has positions in Vici Properties. The Motley Fool recommends Vici Properties. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.