Is Real Estate Income a Buy, Sell or Hold in 2025?

The end of the year is a time for reflection and an opportunity to look ahead. It’s only natural that investors are already thinking about the best stocks to buy for the coming year. Ideally, investors should try to identify stocks that will make profitable investments over the long term.

But when the stock bought can affect returns, so looking at the here and now also makes sense. One factor that some investors may consider is how resilient the investment is to various economic conditions. Finding stocks that can weather the storm of a recession can be attractive to those worried that there could be a downturn next year.

Let’s take a look at a company that has positioned itself well for each potential macroeconomic outcome and see if now is the time to buy.

Income from real estate (NYSE:O) pays its dividend every month. While this isn’t that unique, it’s something the company takes very seriously. It has raised its dividend every year for the past 30 years. Paying this ever-growing dividend is significant enough for Realty Income to call itself “The Monthly Dividend Company.”

The company’s dividend prioritization aside, Realty Income also has to pay out at least 90% of its earnings as a dividend because it’s a real estate investment trust (REIT). This classification further reinforces the reliability of dividend payments to shareholders. The stock currently has a dividend yield of 5.9%, which easily outperforms S&P 500yield of 1.3%

Realty Income’s business is to own and lease real estate to clients doing business in 90 separate industries. Most of these leases are triple net leases, meaning that customers, not real estate revenue, take responsibility for things like taxes, insurance, and maintenance.

Realty Income’s strategy of leasing to so many different industries provides diversification to its real estate portfolio. If one sector of the economy suffers a downturn, it will not have an outsized impact on the REIT, as that sector will only represent a small percentage of its portfolio.

The company allocates 73% of its portfolio to businesses such as off-price non-discretionary and service-oriented retail. Think groceries, convenience stores, pharmacies, etc. In short, even when things get tough economically, Realty Income clients need to be resilient. In fact, the company classifies approximately 90% of its real estate portfolio as “resilient to economic downturns and/or insulated from economic pressures.”

The story continues