Leading REIT with a Dividend Yield of 3.19% Enters the Best Dividend Stocks List

Dividend.com has added a real estate firm to the Best Dividend Stocks List and removed a healthcare services firm from the list.

There can be something said for owning physical assets during times of duress. And with the markets getting a bit dicey over the last few weeks, the flight to safety is on. One of the biggest places to find a port in the storm is in real estate. But simply buying a stake in your local strip mall might not be the answer. It takes a big portfolio of strong irreplaceable assets that drive real estate’s safety. Luckily, for our new Best Dividend Stocks List pick in the sector, it has one of the strongest portfolios in the business.

Our pick is one of the largest owners, managers and developers of first-class office properties in the United States, with over 47 million square feet of rentable space. The key is that our pick has focused on the hot bed corridors of five key markets. This includes Boston, Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco and Washington, DC. Demand in these spaces remains swift and has helped continue to keep occupancy for our pick’s properties at high levels. Additionally, demand for these offices has continued to keep rents rising for our pick.

That’s translated into some impressive and steady dividends for our pick’s shareholders. Over the last ten years, our pick has increased its payout by over 60% and has managed to grow its payout annually by roughly 4% per year during the last three years. This doesn’t even include our pick’s penchant for handing out plenty of special and one-time dividends to its shareholders.

But the growth and good times could keep going for our new pick. Thanks to a growing economy and a continued flight to these key markets from tech and biotech start-ups/firms, our pick’s rents have continued to surge in recent quarters. As a real estate investment trust (REIT), that directly translates into higher dividends down the road.

With a strong growth profile, steady cash flows and the ownership of physical assets, our new pick could be a great addition to your dividend-growth portfolio.

To summarize, here are five reasons why you should own this stock:

• More than 200 prime properties in some of the strongest markets in nation, with an occupancy rate of over 90%.
• Recorded annual revenues of $2.5 billion with more than $753 million available for distributions.
• Smartly right-sizing its portfolio through asset sales, development and joint ventures.
• One of the most conservative balance sheets in the sector with a leverage position of just 6.6x
• Healthy payout ratio of 59% and growing yield of 3.19%.

Check out the last week’s Best Dividend Stocks List pick here.