Key insights
- The article suggests investing in Realty Income (O) to generate $500 monthly income. It highlights the REIT's dividend yield and monthly payout structure. While positive for income investors, the overall US market impact is limited as it focuses on a single stock and a specific investment strategy. The implied bullish signal is weak.
If you're looking for regular income, it's hard to beat dividend-paying stocks. A particularly attractive one is Realty Income (O +0.75%). It's a real estate investment trust (REIT) -- a company that owns lots of real estate and charges its tenants rent.
REITs are required to pay out at least 90% of their taxable earnings as dividends, and Realty Income has been kicking out a lot of income to its shareholders. Its dividend yield was recently 5.3%. Better still, unlike most dividend stocks, it pays its dividend on a monthly basis.
If you're looking for $500 in monthly income (which is $6,000 per year) from Realty Income stock, you would need to own a bunch of shares. How big a bunch? Well, the stock's most recent monthly dividend per share was $0.2705, to be paid in April.
Therefore, to collect $500, divide $500 by $0.2705, arriving at 1,848.43. Let's round up a bit, to 1,850 shares. At a recent stock price of $60.46, that would cost you $111,851.
Before you spend such a sum on a stock, research it well. For starters, here are some things to know about this particular REIT:
Give this stock -- or other compelling dividend payers -- some consideration.