With most companies distributing dividends quarterly, investors needing predictable monthly cash flow could desire more frequent payouts.

The good news is that there are a number of securities that pay dividends on a monthly basis, helping to deliver a steady stream of income. This article will discuss 3 of the monthly dividend stocks right now.

STAG Industrial (STAG)

STAG Industrial is an owner and operator of industrial real estate. It is focused on single-tenant industrial properties and has ~563 buildings across 41 states in the United States. The focus of this REIT on single-tenant properties might create higher risk compared to multi-tenant properties, as the former are either fully occupied or completely vacant. However, STAG Industrial executes a deep quantitative and qualitative analysis on its tenants. 

As a result, it has incurred credit losses that have been less than 0.1% of its revenues since its IPO. As per the latest data, 53% of the tenants are publicly rated and 31% of the tenants are rated “investment grade.” The company typically does business with established tenants to reduce risk. 

In mid-February, STAG Industrial reported (2/13/24) financial results for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2023. Core FFO per share grew 5.5% over the prior year’s quarter, from $0.55 to $0.58, exceeding the analysts’ consensus by $0.01, thanks to the sustained strength of the REIT’s tenants and material hikes in rent rates. Net operating income grew 10% over the prior year’s quarter while the occupancy rate climbed sequentially from 97.6% to 98.2%. 

On the other hand, interest expense increased 17% year-on-year due to high interest rates. STAG Industrial has proved fairly resilient to the surge of interest rates to 23-year highs thanks to its decent balance sheet. Moreover, the REIT provided positive guidance for 2024, expecting core FFO per share of $2.36-$2.40.

STAG has increased its dividend for 13 consecutive years. STAG Industrial currently offers a 4.2% yield and has never cut its dividend throughout its short history. 

Agree Realty Corp. (ADC)

Agree Realty Corp. is an integrated real estate investment trust (REIT) focused on ownership, acquisition, development, and retail property management. Richard Agree founded Agree Development Company in 1971, which is the predecessor to Agree Realty Corporation. Agree has developed over 40 community shopping centers throughout the Midwestern and Southeastern United States. 

The company's business objective is to invest in and actively manage a diversified portfolio of retail properties net leased to industry tenants. Agree Realty has paid a growing dividend for eleven consecutive years. 

On February 13th, 2024, Agree Realty Corp. reported fourth quarter results for Fiscal Year (FY)2023. In the fourth quarter, the company invested $199 million in 70 retail net lease properties, completed four development projects, and maintained a balanced balance sheet. Key financial metrics include unchanged net income per share at $0.44, a 3.4% increase in Core Funds from Operations (Core FFO) per share to $0.99, and a 5.2% increase in Adjusted Funds from Operations (AFFO) per share to $1.00. Additionally, the company declared a December monthly dividend of $0.247 per common share, reflecting a 2.9% year-over-year increase. 

Agree Realty has grown AFFO by a compound rate of 6.8% over the past ten years. However, AFFO has increased by 5.8% per year over the past five years. We expect that Agree Realty will continue to grow but at a slightly slower pace of 4.0% annually for the next five years. Current growth prospects stem from the recent acquisitions announced for the year. 

The company has a ten-year dividend growth rate of 5.9%. ADC stock yields 5.4%.

Itau Unibanco (ITUB)

Itaú Unibanco Holding S.A. is headquartered in Sao Paulo, Brazil. The bank has operations across South America and other places like the United States, Portugal, Switzerland, China, Japan, etc.

On February 5th, 2024, Itaú Unibanco reported fourth-quarter results for 2023. In the fourth quarter of 2023, the company achieved a commendable 4.0% increase in the recurring managerial result, reaching $1.9 billion. This positive momentum extended to the return on equity, standing at 21.2% on a consolidated basis and further elevating to 22.2% in Brazil. The loan portfolio exhibited a 1.1% increase on a consolidated scale, with a more pronounced uptick of 1.8% in Brazil.

Notably, the credit card portfolio surged by 6.1%, particularly towards the end of the year, with a substantial 10.4% growth in internal channels. Despite a marginal decline of 0.2% in personal loans, the margin with clients experienced a notable 2.9% increase, concluding the quarter at $5.3 billion.

Itaú Unibanco has seen its earnings increase at a compound annual growth rate of 2.8% for the past ten years. We have estimated a modest EPS growth rate of 5.0% for the next five years. This will put 2028 earnings at $0.93 per share. The growth will be driven by a more considerable increase in demand for deposits and loans. 

Another driver in earnings growth is that Itaú Unibanco positions itself as a regional money center in Latin America. The company saw an increase in revenue in this region. Itaú has about 30% of its loans outside of Brazil, allowing the company to benefit from growth in emerging Latin American markets.

ITUB stock yields 5%.