Agree Realty (ADC +0.60%) is another net-lease REIT, but it owns free-standing retail properties. It focuses on owning properties leased to essential retailers, such as grocery stores, home improvement stores, dollar stores, and drug stores, which are less susceptible to disruption from e-commerce or a recession. This strategy enables Agree Realty to generate steady rental income to support its dividend.
A quick look at its dividend history can be misleading– the shift from a quarterly to a monthly dividend in 2021 can make it look on a chart like it cut its payout that year. But on an annualized basis, it has raised its payout every year since coming through the 2008-09 financial crisis. This REIT has increased its dividend at a 5.6% compound annual rate over the past decade, and two increases in 2025 have bumped the payout 3.6% higher.