3 High-Yield REITs With Future Growth

Investors looking for high dividend yields often turn to real estate investment trusts, or REITs. REITs exist virtually entirely to generate income that is then substantially completely returned to shareholders via dividends.

In this way, REITs can be an excellent way to generate passive streams of income.

This article will discuss 3 high-dividend REITs that have yields above 4% and sustainable dividends for the long run, making them attractive for income investors.

1. NNN REIT (NNN)

National Retail Properties (NNN) is a triple-net lease REIT that owns single-tenant retail properties across the United States. The company is focused on retail customers because they are much more likely to accept rent hikes to avoid switching locations and losing their customer base.

Thanks to this disciplined strategy and 1,000+ property portfolio, National Retail has offered consistent growth with markedly low volatility. It is also characterized by very high occupancy rates, which reached 98.3% at year-end 2025; its 15-year low occupancy rate is 96% and it typically ranges between 98%-99%.

NNN is a Dividend Champion with 36 consecutive years of dividend increases.

On February 11, 2026, NNN REIT, Inc. reported fourth-quarter and full-year 2025 results with record acquisitions and strong dividend growth. For Q4 2025, AFFO per share increased 6.1% year-over-year to $0.87, while core FFO per share similarly rose 6.1% to $0.87. For the full year, AFFO per share was $3.44 (up 2.7%) and core FFO per share was $3.41 (up 2.7%).

The company achieved record investment volume in 2025 with acquisitions totaling just over $900 million across the year at a 7.4% average initial cap rate, the highest in company history. Portfolio occupancy strengthened to 98.3% at year-end, representing an 80-basis-point sequential improvement, with annualized base rent rising nearly 8% year-over year to $928 million.

NNN announced its 36th consecutive annual dividend increase and repaid a $400 million 4% coupon note while maintaining a strong balance sheet. The company executed forward term swaps totaling $200 million at a fixed 3.22% SOFR and maintained Baa1 ratings with no floating-rate debt.

Management’s 2026 guidance projects AFFO per share of $3.52–$3.58, with the midpoint representing approximately 3.2% growth for the full year. The trust’s high level of occupancy should afford it low single-digit levels of revenue growth in the years ahead, while slightly increasing margins should continue to see it growing FFO-per-share at a low-to-mid-single-digit rate. The bulk of National Retail’s FFO-per-share growth will come from net new property acquisitions.

NNN stock currently yields 5.4%.

2. 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. STAG Industrial went public in 2011.

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 (2/11/26) results for the fourth quarter of 2025. Core FFO per share grew 8% over the prior year’s quarter, from $0.61 to $0.66, beating the analysts’ consensus by $0.02, thanks to hikes in rent rates. Net operating income grew 5% over the prior year’s quarter while the occupancy rate improved sequentially from 95.8% to 96.4%.

We expect core FFO per share of $2.60 in 2026. STAG Industrial has proved fairly resilient to the environment of elevated interest rates in recent years thanks to its decent balance sheet.

STAG Industrial has grown its FFO per share at a 6.6% average annual rate over the last decade and at a 6.2% average annual rate over the last five years. The U.S. industrial market is more than $1 trillion in size and STAG Industrial still has a market share that is less than 1% of its target market, which includes the top 60 markets of the country. Therefore, the REIT has ample room to continue to grow for years.

STAG has increased its dividend for 15 consecutive years and currently yields 4%.

3. EPR Properties (EPR)

EPR Properties is a specialty real estate investment trust, or REIT, that invests in properties in specific market segments that require industry knowledge to operate effectively. It selects properties it believes have strong return potential in Entertainment, Recreation, and Education.

The REIT structures its investments as triple net, a structure that places the operating costs of the property on the tenants, not the REIT. The portfolio includes about $7 billion in investments across 300+ locations in 44 states, including over 250 tenants.

EPR posted fourth quarter and full-year earnings on February 26th, 2026, and results were good. FFO-per-share came to $1.30, which was as expected. Revenue was up 3.2% year-over-year to $183 million, beating estimates by $1 million. Rental revenue was up $8 million year-over-year. For the year, FFO came to $5.12 per share, up from $4.87 a year ago.

Growth will be fueled in part by a major acquisition. The company also announced separate from the earnings report that it is acquiring seven regional amusement parks from Six Flags Entertainment (FUN) for a gross amount of $342 million. This would be the largest acquisition since 2017.

EPR boosted its dividend by 5% to a new payout of $3.72 annually, its 5th consecutive year of increases. EPR currently yields 6.6%.

Get the complete list of High Yield REITs here

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Disclosure: No positions in any stocks mentioned