The market has been down over the past month as investors consider higher interest rates, inflation, and artificial intelligence (AI) spending, and now is a good time to think about defensive plays like dividend stocks.
Also, $1,000 is enough to start a position in an excellent dividend stock that should pay you well forever. You want to look for a high-yielding dividend and reliability, and Realty Income (NYSE: O) is an excellent choice.
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The monthly dividend stock
Realty Income is a real estate investment trust (REIT). It calls itself “The Monthly Dividend Company” because it’s one of the few companies that, as the name implies, pays dividends monthly rather than the usual quarterly. It has paid a dividend for the past 676 months, which comes out to more than 56 years.
It also raises its dividend quarterly, while most dividend stocks raise theirs annually, if at all.
At its recent price, Realty Income’s dividend yields 5.5%, its highest in almost three years. The market is worried about the company’s ability to keep borrowing money as interest rates are hiked, which could inhibit its growth opportunities, and that’s why the price recently plunged, sending the yield higher.
However, the company has never missed a payment and has raised the dividend throughout all kinds of circumstances. This isn’t the first time Realty Income has faced higher interest rates, and investors can rely on it to send the monthly check.
A $1,000 investment will get about $55.40 in annual dividends right now, although the quarterly raises mean it will already be higher than that before the year is out. It will also likely keep on growing, and if you add to your position over time, it could be a valuable source of passive income at retirement.
Should you buy stock in Realty Income right now?
Before you buy stock in Realty Income, consider this:
The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the 10 best stocks for investors to buy now… and Realty Income wasn’t one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years.
Consider when Netflix made this list on December 17, 2004… if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $336,195!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005… if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $1,241,567!*
