A high-yielding stock is great, but a sustainable high yield combined with upside potential in the stock price is even better. Because of the bear market in stocks, there are some excellent opportunities, and for income-seeking investors, the real estate sector is a great place to look.
Two real estate stocks in particular that have excellent dividend yields and lots of room to grow are EPR Properties (EPR -0.32%) and Simon Property Group (SPG -0.26%). Here's why these stocks have the potential to beat the market over the long run, especially for investors who buy on the 2022 dip.
A massive market opportunity with short-term headwinds
EPR Properties held up quite well during the stock market downturn until recently. A couple of months ago, we learned that Regal Entertainment's parent company, Cineworld, filed for bankruptcy. And Regal is EPR's second-largest tenant. So, investors were understandably nervous about this development -- not just because of the Regal-occupied properties, but what it could mean for the rest of the theater industry, as movie theaters make up over 40% of this particular real estate investment trust's (REIT's) rent.
While there's still some uncertainty here, EPR recently reported that all its Regal tenants had paid both October and November rent. And the company raised its full-year guidance, inclusive of the effects of the Regal situation. Elsewhere in the business, EPR's properties are performing very well and the company remains in growth mode. What's more, not only is EPR growing, but it plans to fund its $250 million in committed development spending with the cash flow from its business -- a rarity among REITs.
Going forward, EPR sees a $100 billion addressable market opportunity to expand its experiential property portfolio and has a ton of financial flexibility to take advantage of it. In the meantime, EPR pays an 8.4% dividend yield in monthly installments and is generating more than enough profit to keep paying it (or even to raise it in the future).
Not all malls are dying
There's a popular belief that malls are dying in the United States. While this might be true of the lower-quality local malls, one visit to a mall operated by retail REIT Simon Property Group tells a different story.
Its latest results do as well. Occupancy at Simon's malls increased by 170 basis points over the past year, despite a 1.7% increase in its base rent. Simon actually increased its full-year guidance and has begun buying back shares aggressively. The company continues to develop and redevelop properties to create shopping destinations and has tremendous financial flexibility to continue doing so. At the end of the third quarter, Simon had $1.2 billion in cash on hand and another $7.4 billion in available capacity on its credit facilities.
For income investors, Simon has increased its payout by 9.1% compared with a year ago, and now yields about 6.2%. Plus, this payout represents just 60% of funds from operations (the real estate equivalent of earnings), so there should be plenty of room to grow the dividend in the future.
Invest for the long term
Both these companies are well-run REITs with excellent portfolios and balance sheets, and plenty of opportunities to grow. Over the long term, I'm quite confident they'll deliver excellent returns to investors who buy at these levels, and I've added to both positions in my own portfolio since the market downturn began. However, I fully expect a roller-coaster ride in both as the economic headwinds play out over the next few quarters, so invest with this in mind.
