Most dividend-paying companies make quarterly payments. That's a standard approach because those dividends line up with their quarterly earnings reports while granting the companies more control over their quarterly cash flows, accounting costs, and administrative expenses.
But if you're a retiree who relies on monthly income to cover the bills, quarterly dividend payments might seem lumpy and unpredictable. So today, let's look at three reliable stocks that cut you dividend checks each month: Realty Income (O +0.41%), LTC Properties (LTC +1.91%), and Main Street Capital (MAIN +0.26%).
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Realty Income
Realty Income, which owns more than 15,600 commercial properties across the U.S. and Europe, is one of the world's largest real estate investment trusts (REITs). As a REIT, it leases out those properties and splits the rental income with its investors.
REITs are obligated to pay out at least 90% of their pretax income to investors as dividends to maintain a lower tax rate. Realty Income pays those dividends monthly, and it has raised its payout 132 times since its initial public offering (IPO) in 1994. It currently pays a forward yield of 5.5%.
NYSE: O
Key Data Points
Realty Income mainly rents its properties to recession-resistant retailers like convenience stores, discount retailers, and drugstores. Some of those retailers have struggled with store closures in recent years, but the REIT has kept its occupancy rate above 96% ever since its IPO by attracting stronger tenants to offset its weaker ones.
Rising interest rates in 2022 and 2023 throttled its growth by stirring up macro headwinds for its tenants and making it more expensive to purchase new properties. Those high rates also made its dividends less appealing than risk-free CDs and Treasury bills.
But as interest rates declined in 2024 and 2025, those headwinds dissipated, and it became a more appealing investment again. Realty Income expects its adjusted funds from operations (FFO) per share to rise from $4.19 in 2024 to anywhere from $4.24 to $4.28 in 2025, which should comfortably cover its forward annual dividend of $3.21 per share. And at $58, it still looks like a bargain at 14 times this year's adjusted FFO per share.
LTC Properties
LTC is another REIT, and it mainly invests in senior housing and healthcare properties. It currently owns 192 properties across 25 states, and its total addressable market has been expanding as the U.S. population ages. It maintained a stable occupancy rate of 81% across its core senior housing operating portfolio (SHOP) in its latest quarter.
NYSE: LTC
Key Data Points
LTC pays monthly dividends, at a hefty forward yield of 6.6%. It doesn't raise its dividends every year, and it expects its core FFO to stay nearly flat from $2.68 per share in 2024 to a range of $2.67 to $2.71 in 2025. That outlook isn't exciting, but it will easily cover its forward annual dividend of $2.28 per share.
At $35, it looks cheap at just 13 times this year's core FFO. Like Realty Income, LTC struggled with rising interest rates in 2022 and 2023, but its prospects are also brightening as those benchmark rates decline. So if you're looking for a safe and sleepy place to park your cash and earn some extra monthly income, LTC might check the right boxes.
Main Street Capital
Main Street Capital is a business development corporation (BDC). As such, it offers loans to "middle market" companies that generate $10 million to $150 million in annual revenue.
These clients often struggle to secure loans from traditional banks, which consider them riskier borrowers, yet they're not big enough to attract attention from venture capital firms. BDCs address that unmet demand with higher-rate loans. Main Street has made 175 cumulative investments and manages over $8.4 billion in assets.
NYSE: MAIN
Key Data Points
Like REITs, BDCs are also required to pay out at least 90% of their taxable income as dividends for a lower tax rate. Main Street is one of the few BDCs that pay dividends monthly instead of quarterly. It has raised its payout annually since 2021, and pays a generous forward dividend yield of 7.4%.
Analysts expect Main Street's net investment income (NII) per share to dip 3% to $3.98 in 2025 and fall short of covering its forward dividend rate of $4.28 per share. That might seem like a red flag, but that's mainly because the Fed's benchmark rates are declining.
Like traditional banks, BDCs generate lower NII as interest rates decline, while rising interest rates boost their profits. Over the long term, Main Street's NII should rise again as interest rates stabilize and its lending activity increases. At $56, its stock trades at just 14 times this year's NII per share estimate, so its downside potential should be limited even as it faces some near-term headwinds from lower rates.
