Last week saw an office REIT, Government Properties Income Trust (GOV), jump three places on the Most Watched Stocks List. A very unique business model, this REIT owns properties throughout the U.S. that are leased out to the U.S. government. Dividend investors who are looking to be a landlord to the U.S. government should definitely give this REIT a thought.
This REIT has no direct competitor in terms of operating a business model in which properties are leased to the U.S. government. GOV owns 74 properties across the United States and 95% of them are leased out. Since the inception of this REIT, occupancy has always remained above 90%. Government tenants tend to occupy leases longer than the private sector. The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services provides approximately 8% of the revenue, which is the highest contribution by a single tenant.
For dividend investors looking for a solid yield, GOV is a mixed bag. The REIT doesn’t have a history of dividend increases but has a solid yield of over 9%. The high yield is primarily due to its recent share price drop from $22 to $18 and the fact that it is an REIT, so it has to distribute a majority of its earnings as dividends. The payout ratio currently stands at 82%.
In other watchlist-specific news, cereal giant Kellogg Co. (K ) moved up two spots, along with Genuine Parts (GPC ) and oil & gas company Enterprise Products Partners L.P (EPD ).
Our Most Watched Stocks List is a user-generated, interest-based ranking of dividend-paying stocks, giving you a real-time snapshot of buying interest in the market. Generated by our Premium members’ watchlists, it’s aggregated and ranked by the most watched criteria.
The list has been designed to help income investors navigate the top dividend stocks being tracked by one of the world’s most advanced investing communities.
