12 Best REIT Dividend Stocks To Buy for 2024

9. National Retail Properties, Inc. (NYSE:NNN)

Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 20

National Retail Properties, Inc. (NYSE:NNN) is an American real estate investment trust company, based in Florida. The company follows a straightforward investment approach that has contributed to its consistent performance. The REIT focuses exclusively on single-tenant net lease retail properties, where tenants are responsible for all operating costs, such as maintenance, property taxes, and insurance. This lease structure allows the company to generate stable rental income that increases annually, either at a fixed rate or in line with inflation. Moreover, it targets properties in strong markets, ensuring they remain attractive to potential replacement tenants if the current tenant does not renew their lease. Additionally, it maintains a diversified portfolio across different regions, industries, and tenants. In the past 12 months, the stock has surged by nearly 5%.

In the third quarter of 2024, National Retail Properties, Inc. (NYSE:NNN) reported revenue of $218.6 million, which showed a 6.55% growth from the same period last year. Its funds from operations (FFO) also jumped to over $154 million, from $147.2 million in the prior year period. As of September 30, 2024, the company achieved a strong occupancy rate of 99.3%, with a weighted average remaining lease term of 10.0 years. It made $113.6 million in property investments, which included acquiring eight properties totaling about 626,000 square feet of gross leasable area, at an initial cash cap rate of 7.6%. The company also sold nine properties for $20.0 million, generating $7.8 million in gains from those sales.

On October 15, National Retail Properties, Inc. (NYSE:NNN) declared a quarterly dividend of $0.58 per share, which was in line with its previous dividend. Overall, the company holds a strong dividend history, having raised its payout for 35 straight years. This milestone has been achieved by only two other REITs. As of December 12, the stock has a dividend yield of 5.47%.

Of the 900 hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey at the end of Q3 2024, 20 funds held investments in National Retail Properties, Inc. (NYSE:NNN), up from 16 in the previous quarter. The stakes held by these hedge funds have a collective value of more than $230.5 million. Among these funds, Long Pond Capital was the company’s leading stakeholder in Q3.