There are several important advantages to owning stocks that pay dividends. Dividends are a tangible and beneficial way for shareholders to share in the earnings a company produces. A stock can go up and down before and after a dividend is paid, but once it is paid, it belongs to the investors and can be used for their own purposes.
Dividend payments can be used to defray current expenses, but they can also be saved for the future or reinvested in the market to generate future income and capital gains. During inflationary periods when consumer prices are rising quickly, dividends can act as a hedge against falling purchasing power.
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The large majority of dividend-paying stocks make distributions quarterly. A small number of companies, however, have elected to pay dividends monthly. Most monthly dividend stocks are companies that primarily exist to generate income. They include real estate investment trusts, or REITs, business development companies, called BDCs, master limited partnerships, or MLPs, and royalty trusts. Such companies can and do appreciate, but they are income vehicles first and foremost.
The biggest benefit of monthly dividend stocks is also the most obvious: it’s always better and generally more convenient to get paid sooner rather than later. This is especially true during times of inflation when the buying power of a dollar is falling fast.
If you invest — at least partly — for income and see the value in monthly dividends, this list of monthly dividend stocks will be of particular interest to you. The stocks listed below have a long history of paying dividends — month in and month out — in all kinds of economic circumstances and markets. One or more of the stocks on this list may be a good fit for your portfolio:
| Stocks | Market Cap | Dividend yield* |
| Ellington Financial Inc. (ticker: EFC) | $1.2 billion | 11.8% |
| Global Water Resources Inc. (GWRS) | $282 million | 3% |
| Gladstone Investment Corp. (GAIN) | $515 million | 6.8% |
| Agree Realty Corp. (ADC) | $8.1 billion | 4.2% |
| Gladstone Capital Corp. (GLAD) | $640 million | 6.9% |
| Realty Income Corp. (O) | $52 billion | 5.6% |
| LTC Properties Inc. (LTC) | $1.6 billion | 6.4% |
*As of July 24 close.
Ellington Financial Inc. (EFC)
EFC is a mortgage REIT, or mREIT, with a market capitalization that tops $1.2 billion. For those not familiar, an mREIT is a specialty real estate company that does not own physical real estate directly but owns commercial mortgages or mortgage bonds instead. mREITs make money by collecting interest rather than by collecting rent.
Ellington Financial has two divisions. The portfolio division buys and holds government-backed residential mortgage-backed securities, commonly called RMBS bonds. The company’s other division is called Lionbridge Financial. Lionbridge markets and originates reverse mortgages to older homeowners and then services these loans for the benefit of shareholders.
Current yield: 11.8%
Global Water Resources Inc. (GWRS)
Public utilities have long been known as dependable and relatively conservative dividend stocks. GWRS is no exception to that rule.
GWRS is a regulated water utility and wastewater management company that operates in metropolitan Phoenix and Tucson, Arizona and the surrounding areas. The company serves more than 110,000 Arizona residents and has a market cap of $282 million.
Arizona is in a high population growth region of the country, and GWRS will continue to benefit from the consistent demand for water and for professional water services management. As a regulated utility, GWRS can count on a stable revenue stream and shareholders can expect consistent, predictable cash flow and resilience in volatile markets and economic downturns.
Current yield: 3%
Gladstone Investment Corp. (GAIN)
GAIN is a $515 million BDC that generates earnings by making loans and preferred equity investments in mature-, small- and middle-market private companies. The company offers custom-designed financing solutions for the refinancing of existing debt, or to fund mergers, acquisitions and buyouts.
GAIN does not engage in venture capital and avoids doing business with startups. Instead, this BDC seeks growth-stage companies or mature companies that might be looking to go public through an initial public offering (IPO). Its ideal target company has between $10 million and $25 million in annual revenue.
The company will not make investments of less than $5 million and hesitates to issue loans of more than $40 million.
Current yield: 6.8%
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Agree Realty Corp. (ADC)
ADC is an $8.1 billion REIT dedicated to brick-and-mortar retail. The company is using innovative net lease financing strategies to thrive in a very challenging retail environment.
ADC owns more than 2,400 retail properties comprising more than 50 million square feet of prime rentable space. Wall Street estimates the company will generate about $707 million in revenue in 2025 and increase that number by about 13% to $802 million in 2026.
According to the company’s investor relations department, ADC has enjoyed a 12.2% average annual total return since its IPO in 1994 and has recorded a 5.5% annual dividend growth rate over the past 10 years.
Current yield: 4.2%
Gladstone Capital Corp. (GLAD)
GLAD is something of a sister company to GAIN, the third stock on today’s list. Both BDCs are managed by Gladstone Cos. Inc., and both generate earnings through loans and investments in private companies. GLAD, however, takes a slightly different approach.
GLAD operates much more like a closed-end private debt fund. It is less likely than GAIN to make equity investments or preferred equity loans. Instead, GLAD focuses on senior loans, revolving lines of credit, second position loans and mezzanine loans.
The company’s investments generally range from $7 million to $30 million and are made to small private companies with earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) of between $3 million and $25 million.
Current yield: 6.9%
Realty Income Corp. (O)
Realty Income may be the most prominent monthly dividend stock in the world, and with a market cap of more than $52 billion, it’s certainly the largest.
This retail REIT owns an impressive portfolio of more than 15,600 retail outlets in all 50 U.S. states, the UK and six other European countries. O specializes in big-box retail stores, convenience stores and national chain drug stores. The company’s leases are all long term — generally between 15 years and 50 years — and are all made on a net lease basis, meaning the tenant, not the landlord, is responsible for building maintenance, property taxes and insurance.
Income investors appreciate the fact that O is a component stock of the S&P Dividend Aristocrats Index. To be included in that benchmark, a company must have increased its annual dividend for at least 25 consecutive years. This REIT has, in fact, raised its payout for 30 years in a row.
Current yield: 5.6%
LTC Properties Inc. (LTC)
Health care is a challenging business, but because of the aging U.S. population, the demand for nursing homes and long-term care facilities remains consistently high. The youngest of the baby boom generation — now 62 years old — is facing retirement and will be consumers of geriatric health care services for many years to come.
All that is good news for the $1.6 billion health care REIT, LTC Properties. LTC owns senior housing, nursing homes and rehabilitation centers that serve older Americans. It uses an innovative kind of financing called sale and leaseback transactions to buy new facilities and expand its portfolio. Essentially, they purchase viable facilities from owner-operators and lease them back to the previous owners on a long-term, net lease basis. In this way, LTC takes ownership and collects rent without having any traditional landlord responsibilities, while the former owner gets a large cash infusion that helps them run and expand the business.
Like all REITs, LTC must distribute a minimum of 90% of its taxable income to shareholders as a dividend. This means that investors can count on LTC to remain a dependable monthly dividend-paying stock well into the foreseeable future.
Current yield: 6.4%
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7 Best Monthly Dividend Stocks to Buy Now originally appeared on usnews.com
Update 07/25/25: This story was published at an earlier date and has been updated with new information.
