Global Net Lease (GNL 0.61%) has a sky-high 11.5% dividend yield and a portfolio of properties occupied by mostly high-quality tenants. But is this real estate investment trust (REIT) too good to be true? In this Fool Live video clip, recorded on Jan. 24, Fool.com contributors Matt Frankel and Marc Rapport discuss whether it's a stock to watch in 2022.
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Matt Frankel: This is Global Net Lease, ticker symbol is G-N-L. Marc, what can you tell us about this one?
Marc Rapport: It's a strong No. 10 [out of 10 stocks ranked on the Fool Live show that this clip is from]. Let me put it that way. First, let me say I own all four of the REITs I'm going to talk about today. Global Net Lease, the reason I ranked them low as compared to a lot of REITs, their total return over a period of years is not really that great. But I think -- I'm not sure why they are being punished so badly in the market.
Their stock is down only 9% here today but their stock's been down relative to a lot of REITs. Especially net-lease REITs with a fair amount of industrial [properties]. They are a mix of industrial and office mostly, not a lot of retail. Their three-year total return is minus 5%, which is weak, so I marked down a little bit for that. Their yield was 11.5%, so I'm going to keep an eye on it. We'll see if they cut their dividend. They did cut their dividend last year. Maybe it was in 2020. But anyway, they did cut their yield at one point and their dividend.
Their FFO growth has only been 22% in the past three years. That's not really super high. That's funds from operations, it's a critical measure they're building to pay their dividend. Their payout ratio has been pretty high, it was over 100% for a while last year. Now it's back down to about 90%. So, I still think it's just a hold. You think it's a buy, Matt? What do you think about it?
Matt Frankel: Well, so I could go either way on that one. A payout ratio above 100% is concerning. The portfolio's a little over 40% offices, which is why you're seeing it get beat up the way it is. A lot of people are fearful that how many times have companies delayed the return to office at this point? You keep hearing all these big banks who are leading the charge back to the office, say no, stay home for another few months, stay home for another few months. At Fool HQ, they've delayed the office reopening several times.
So, investors are very wary of the fact that we're never really going to get back to the office environment that we used to have. Where a lot of companies might pull the plug on their office space. That's the big concern from a long-term standpoint. The stock has gotten beaten up a little bit. You're absolutely right. Really just put this up, real quick trend. Want to zoom so everybody can see this.
This is their top 10 tenants list. So, you can see some of the companies that they rent to. Obviously, FedEx is always going to need distribution centers at some of their industrial properties. But when you look at a lot of these companies that have offices with them: ING, the U.S. General Services Administration, things like that. They could absolutely cut their office footprint if they choose to do so and have their employees work remote more. So, there is that type of fear. And on the other hand, there are plenty of office REITs and industrial REITs like the one we just talked about -- Terreno (TRNO -1.39%) -- that have payout ratio is significantly lower than a 100%. I think that's where you're seeing a lot of investor fears.
