Essential Properties Realty Trust

EPRT

Market cap $6.02B

Not all REIT dividends are sustainable. Overleverage, troubled assets, and high payout ratios are clear red flags. I highlight 3 popular REITs at high risk of cutting their dividend.

Many REITs pay dividends on a monthly basis. Some offer up to 8% dividend yields. These are my favorite monthly-paying REITs.

I increased my forward projected dividend income by $86.77 (1.4%) in December, reaching $6,289.66. My portfolio strategy blends high-growth names like Broadcom (AVGO), Microsoft, and Visa with high-yielders such as SPYI and MPLX. Dividend reinvestments and increases, especially from AVGO and EPRT, drove nearly 83% of new forward income this month.

Essential Properties Realty Trust, Inc. remains a Buy, offering double-digit total return potential driven by raised 2026 AFFO guidance and robust fundamentals. EPRT's Q3 results showed strong AFFO and FFO growth, 99.8% occupancy, and record $370M investment activity at attractive spreads. The REIT's low-leveraged balance sheet, 3% dividend raise, and 63% AFFO payout ratio provide flexibility and dividend safety.

Essential Properties Realty Trust has been the fastest-growing net lease REIT on the market in recent years. EPRT operates in a massive addressable market, with over 200,000 businesses in the United States. The REIT has over $1.4 billion of liquidity on its balance sheet and sports a BBB- S&P credit rating with a positive outlook.

PRINCETON, N.J.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Essential Properties Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE: EPRT; “Essential Properties” or the “Company”) announced today that the Company will release its operating results for the quarter ended December 31, 2025, after the market close on Wednesday, February 11, 2026. The Company will host its quarterly earnings conference call and audio webcast on Thursday, February 12, 2026, at 10:00 a.m. Eastern Time. A webcast of the conference call will be available on the Investor.

Dividend growth is a great catalyst for upside in the REIT sector. This is especially true when the dividend growth potential is underappreciated by the market. I highlight 3 such cases that I expect to surge higher over the coming years.

Not all REIT property sectors are equally attractive. Some are oversupplied and expensive, even as others enjoy steady growth and trade at low valuations. I highlight my three favorite property sectors going into 2026.

U.S. equity markets posted mixed performance as surprisingly cool inflation data and soft employment data were tempered by a hawkish pushback from Fed officials and skeptics clinging to inflation fears. The critical CPI report showed inflation easing to four-year lows, a heavily criticized report that may, ironically, be the most accurate inflation reading in several years due to collection limitations. The report "zeroed out" shelter inflation due to incomplete collection, combined with an antiquated and lagged sampling methodology, effectively "correcting" its data by removing the most persistent source of distortion.

PRINCETON, N.J.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Essential Properties Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE: EPRT; the “Company”), today announced the appointment of Robert W. Salisbury, CFA as the Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of the Company, effective January 1, 2026. “I am pleased to announce Rob's promotion to serve as Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of the Company,” said Peter M. Mavoides, President and Chief Executive Officer of the Company. “Since joining the Company in 2.