'Our favorite holding period is forever.' -- Warren Buffett
As prices are falling, dividend yields are growing higher and higher. For example, as of January 26, 2010, the dividend yield for SUI in the last 12 months is at 13.59%. The dividend yield is a measure of the company's income received in proportion to the share price. Dividends are what you are paid just for owning the stock, which is typically better than your average annual yield for most bank accounts. Dividends, also referred to as Dividend per Share (DPS), are a distribution of a portion of a company's earnings to shareholders. In other words, dividends are an investor's share of the profits as part-owner of the company.
Dividend investing is among the most recommended strategies for building long-term wealth. In other words, hefty investment returns can continue to put money in your pocket even while the economy faces down-turns and struggle. When reviewing your investment options, consider looking for companies that pay a strong dividend. For example, look for companies whose yields are 2% or greater and look for companies show their dividends have the potential to grow and last the test of time.
Dividends are typically paid annually or on a quarterly basis and are usually paid by companies that are established. Companies that are in rapid growth, tend to not offer dividends to retain all the earnings and reinvest them into the business.
Benefits of Investing in REITs that offer high yielding Dividends:
• Payment cannot be faked – dividends are either paid or not paid.
• Companies are motivated to pay dividends because it builds a strong sense of continued success for investor interest.
• Dividend monies paid are 100% yours and cannot be taken back by the company; once the money is paid, it is paid.
• Dividend monies can be spent as discretionary income, reinvested into the company for more shares, or used to buy the stock of another company.
'The only thing that gives me pleasure is to see my dividend coming in' --John D. Rockefeller
To get you started, here is a list of several companies that offer high yielding dividends:
Stock Symbol: AGNC
Company: American Capital Agency Corp.
Website: http://www.agnc.com
Industry: REIT - Residential
Exchange: NASDAQ
American Capital Agency Corp. (AGNC) is a real estate investment trust (REIT). (AGNC) invests primarily in securities backed by single-family residential mortgages and collateralized mortgage obligations guaranteed by US government-sponsored agencies such as the Federal National Mortgage Association (Fannie Mae), the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation (Freddie Mac), and the Government National Mortgage Association (Ginnie Mae). (AGNC) is externally managed by American Capital Agency Management - an affiliate of US publicly traded alternative asset manager American Capital.
Stock Symbol: MSW
Company: Mission West Properties, Inc.
Website: http://www.missionwest.com
Industry: REIT - Retail
Exchange: NASDAQ
Mission West Properties, Inc is a self-administered real estate investment trust (REIT) that acquires, leases, and manages commercial real estate primarily located in the Silicon Valley section of the San Francisco Bay Area. Primary properties include single-tenant, research and development facilities and office properties. Tenants include companies such as the Microsoft Corporation and Apple Computer, Inc., who individually lease approximately 300,000 square feet from the company. As of December 31, 2008, the Company owned and managed 111 properties totaling approximately 8 million rentable square feet of research and development properties.
Stock Symbol: ESS
Company: Essex Property Trust, Inc
Website: http://www.essexpropertytrust.com
Industry: REIT - Residential
Exchange: NYSE
Essex Property Trust, Inc. (Essex) operates as a self-administered and self-managed real estate investment trust (REIT). The Company invests primarily in the ownership, operation, management, acquisition, development and redevelopment of real estate. The Company owns all of its interest in its real estate investments directly or indirectly through Essex Portfolio, L.P. (the Operating Partnership). The majority of its real estate property consists of apartment communities. As of December 31, 2008, Essex owned or managed 134 apartment communities, totaling approximately 26,992 units, located predominantly along the West Coast. Its other properties included six office buildings (totaling approximately 478,300 square feet), and six active development projects with 1,256 units in various stages of active development.
Stock Symbol: RYN
Company: Rayonier Inc.
Website: http://www.rayonier.com
Industry: REIT - Diversified
Exchange: NYSE
Rayonier Inc. is an international forest products company that buys, sells, and manages timberlands for the manufacturing of paper, pulp, lumber, and other wood products. The Company owns, leases, and manages approximately 2.6 million acres of timberland and real estate located in the United States and New Zealand. It also owns and operates two specialty cellulose mills in the United States. In addition, it manufactures lumber in three sawmills in Georgia and engages in the trading of logs and wood products.
Stock Symbol: FSP
Company: Franklin Street Properties Corp.
Website: http://www.franklinstreetproperties.com
Industry: REIT - Diversified
Exchange: AMEX
Franklin Street Properties Corp. is a real estate investment trust (REIT) that has two business segments: real estate operations and investment banking/investment services. Real estate operations generate rental income from real estate leasing, interest income from secured loans made for interim acquisition or other purposes and fee income from asset/property management. Investment banking/investment services generate brokerage commissions, loan origination fees, development services and other fees related to the organization of single-purpose entities that own real estate and the private placement of equity in those entities. The company owns more than 25 properties located mainly in suburban areas; Dallas, Houston, Denver, and Atlanta are its largest markets.
Stock Symbol: UMH
Company: UMH Properties, Inc.
Website: http://www.umh.com
Industry: REIT - Diversified
Exchange: AMEX
UMH Properties, Inc. is a real estate investment trust (REIT) that primarily invests in the ownership and operation of manufactured home communities. Manufactured homes are leased and sold to residents and prospective residents of the communities. UMH Properties Inc. owns and operates over 28 manufactured home communities containing approximately 6,800 sites. These communities are located in New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Tennessee.
Stock Symbol: PCL
Company: Plum Creek Timber, Inc.
Website: http://www.plumcreek.com
Industry: REIT - Diversified
Exchange: NYSE
Plum Creek Timber Company, Inc. is one of the largest US based timberland companies that owns over 7.4 million acres of timberlands located in 19 states. The company manages its timberlands in two business segments: the Northern Resources Segment, consisting of timberlands in Maine, Michigan, Montana, New Hampshire, Oregon, Washington, West Virginia and Wisconsin, and the Southern Resources Segment, consisting of timberlands in Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina and Texas. In addition, the Company’s Other Segment includes its natural resource businesses that focus on opportunities relating to mineral extraction, natural gas production and communication and transportation rights of way resulting from its property ownership.
Stock Symbol: MNRTA
Company: Monmouth Real Estate Investment Corporation
Website: http://www.mreic.com
Industry: REIT - Retail
Exchange: NASDAQ
Monmouth Real Estate Investment Corporation is a real estate investment trust (REIT). The Company’s owns about 60 industrial buildings comprising some 6.1 million sq. ft. in 25 states, mostly in the East and Midwest. Most are net-leased (in which tenants pay insurance, taxes, and maintenance costs) under long-term leases. The company's largest tenants are the Federal Express Corporation (FedEx), which holds 46% of leasable space and the Keebler Company, which holds 5% of leasable space, which together account for just more than half of all revenues. In addition, the Company holds a portfolio of REIT securities.
Stock Symbol: PSA
Company: Public Storage, Inc.
Website: http://www.publicstorage.com
Industry: REIT – Industrial
Exchange: NYSE
Public Storage is a real estate investment trust (REIT). The company's investments include acquisition, development, ownership and operation of self-storage facilities. The Trust operates in three business segments: self-storage, Shurgard Europe, and ancillary. As of December 31, 2008, the company owned or had interests with interests in more than 2,100 storage facilities comprising some 135 million square feet of storage space in nearly 40 states and Europe. In addition, the company owns about 45% of the publicly traded PS Business Parks, an office building REIT (PSB).
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Photo Credit: (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)
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