3 High Dividend REITs For Income Now

REITs can be an excellent way to generate passive streams of income.

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Investors looking for high dividend yields often turn to real estate investment trusts, or REITs. REITs exist virtually entirely to generate income that is then substantially completely returned to shareholders via dividends.

In this way, REITs can be an excellent way to generate passive streams of income.

This article will discuss 3 high-dividend REITs that have yields above 4% and sustainable dividends for the long run, making them attractive for income investors.

Rexford Industrial REIT (REXR)

Rexford Industrial Realty (REXR) is a real estate investment trust (REIT) that operates and redevelops industrial properties throughout infill Southern California. The REIT was founded in 2001, became public in 2014 and currently has 419 properties with a total rentable area of 51 million square feet.

Rexford Industrial enjoys strong business tailwinds thanks to its exclusive focus on infill Southern California, which is the fourth-largest industrial market in the world and the largest industrial market in the U.S.

This region has a GDP of $1.8 trillion, the 11th largest in the world, and is characterized by an extremely low vacancy rate of less than 3.0%, markedly high demand and low supply of new properties. As a result, it offers strong pricing power to the REIT.

In early February, Rexford Industrial reported (2/4/26) results for the fourth quarter of 2025. Same-property net operating income grew 0.4% over last year’s quarter, marking a deceleration vs. previous quarters.

Core funds from operations (FFO) grew 6% but core FFO per share grew 2%, from $0.58 to $0.59, due to a higher share count, in line with the analysts’ consensus.

The REIT has not missed the analysts’ FFO estimates for 28 consecutive quarters. In contrast to most REITs, which are suffering from high interest expense amid high interest rates, Rexford Industrial has low interest expense thanks to its rock-solid balance sheet.

REXR currently yields 4.9%.

STAG Industrial (STAG)

STAG Industrial is an owner and operator of industrial real estate. It is focused on single-tenant industrial properties and has 563 buildings across 41 states in the United States. STAG Industrial went public in 2011.

STAG Industrial executes a deep quantitative and qualitative analysis on its tenants. As a result, it has incurred credit losses that have been less than 0.1% of its revenues since its IPO. As per the latest data, 53% of the tenants are publicly rated and 31% of the tenants are rated “investment grade.” The company typically does business with established tenants to reduce risk.

In mid-February, STAG Industrial reported (2/11/26) results for the fourth quarter of 2025. Core FFO per share grew 8% over the prior year’s quarter, from $0.61 to $0.66, beating the analysts’ consensus by $0.02, thanks to hikes in rent rates. Net operating income grew 5% over the prior year’s quarter while the occupancy rate improved sequentially from 95.8% to 96.4%.

We expect core FFO per share of $2.60 in 2026. STAG Industrial has proved fairly resilient to the environment of elevated interest rates in recent years thanks to its decent balance sheet.

STAG Industrial has grown its FFO per share at a 6.6% average annual rate over the last decade and at a 6.2% average annual rate over the last five years. The U.S. industrial market is more than $1 trillion in size and STAG Industrial still has a market share that is less than 1% of its target market, which includes the top 60 markets of the country. Therefore, the REIT has ample room to continue to grow for years.

STAG has increased its dividend for 15 consecutive years and currently yields 4%.

Mid-America Apartment Communities (MAA)

Mid-America Apartment Communities (MAA) owns, operates and acquires apartment communities in the Southeast, Southwest and mid-Atlantic regions of the U.S. Founded in 1977, it currently has ownership interest in 104,945 apartment units across 16 states and the District of Columbia. MAA aims to offer superior returns to its shareholders by focusing on the Sunbelt Region of the U.S., which has exhibited superior population growth and economic growth in the long run.

In early February, MAA reported (2/4/26) financial results for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2025. Same-store net operating income edged down -1.7% over the prior year’s quarter. Core funds from operations (FFO) per share remained flat at $2.23, and exceeded the analysts’ consensus by $0.01. MAA has missed the analysts’ FFO estimates only in 3 of the last 31 quarters.

MAA has benefited from its focus on the Sunbelt Region of the U.S., which has enjoyed higher economic growth than the rest of the country. About 60% of all the domestic moves occurred in the markets of MAA in the last nine years. MAA has grown its FFO per share at a 4.5% average annual rate over the last decade. Growth stumbled in 2020 due to the pandemic, but the pandemic has subsided and thus MAA has recovered. MAA has ample room to expand its asset portfolio.

The REIT has grown its FFO at a higher rate and thus it has exhibited a decent growth record. MAA has also raised its dividend for 15 consecutive years and has a healthy payout ratio of 71%. It also has one of the strongest balance sheets in the REIT universe, with net debt of $5.9 billion, which is less than six times the annual FFO.

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