3 Unstoppable Dividend Stocks to Supercharge Your Passive Income

Stock prices have tumbled this year as investors fret over the impact rising interest rates to combat inflation will have on economic growth. A silver lining to the stock market sell-off is that dividend yields are rising. Because of that, investors can lock in some attractive passive income streams these days on companies with a long history of growing their payouts.

Three seemingly unstoppable dividend stocks are Crown Castle (CCI), Digital Realty (DLR), and Prologis (PLD). With their dividend yields rising as their stock prices fall, they can help supercharge your passive income.

5G-powered dividend growth
Shares of Crown Castle have tumbled more than 40% from their peak this year. That has pushed the communications infrastructure company’s dividend yield up over 5% after factoring in its recent 6.5% dividend increase. With that raise, Crown Castle has had an unbroken streak of increasing its dividend since it became a real estate investment trust (REIT) in 2014.

Crown Castle expects to face some growth-related headwinds next year. Rising interest rates will result in higher interest expenses on its non-fixed-rate debt (about 15% of its total debt). In addition, the merger of Sprint with T-Mobile is leading T-Mobile (TMUS) to consolidate some infrastructure, causing it to cancel some leases. As a result of these issues, Crown Castle’s adjusted funds from operations (FFO) will only grow by about 4% per share next year, down from 6% in 2022.

However, its long-term growth tailwinds remain firmly in place. 5G network expansions will drive demand for additional tower space and accelerate the need for small cell nodes to boost capacity. Because of that, Crown Castle expects that it will be able to grow its high-yielding dividend at a 7% to 8% annual rate over the long term. That means it should supply investors with lots of passive income in the coming years.

Data-driven dividend growth
Digital Realty’s share price has plummeted more than 45% over the past year. That has driven the data center REIT’s dividend yield up over 5%.

This sell-off comes even though “demand for data center solutions continued to be strong through the second quarter,” according to comments by CEO William Stein. The company signed new leases representing $113 million of annualized rental revenue and $173 million of renewal leases at rates 5.3% above those of expired leases.

That strong demand is leading the company to continue investing in expanding its global data center portfolio. It had 41 projects underway at the end of the second quarter, up 10% from the first quarter. The REIT had already pre-sold half this capacity, showcasing strong customer demand for data center space. Meanwhile, it acquired a majority stake in Teraco, growing its African footprint. These investments should enable Digital Realty to continue growing its dividend, something it has done every year since its initial public offering in 2004.

Enormous embedded growth
Prologis’ stock price is also down about 40% this year. Because of that, the leading logistics REIT’s dividend now yields about 3%.

The deep dive in Prologis’ shares comes despite the continued strength of the warehouse market. The company delivered record same-store net operating income (NOI) growth of 9.3% in the third quarter. A big driver was the jaw-dropping 59.7% increase in rental rates for leases signed in the quarter, driven by surging demand for warehouse space. Meanwhile, occupancy was also at a record high at 97.8% at the end of the period.

Prologis still sees significant growth ahead. The current gap between rates on existing leases and market rents widened to 62% in the third quarter. Because of that, the company expects its same-store NOI to grow at an 8% to 10% annual rate for the next several years as existing leases expire and roll over the market rents. That’s assuming no further rent growth, which seems unlikely.

On top of that, the company will benefit from its recent acquisition of Duke Realty and its extensive development pipeline. That growing FFO should enable Prologis to continue increasing its dividend. It gave investors a 25% raise earlier this year and has grown its dividend at a peer-leading double-digit rate over the last several years.

Great ways to boost your passive income
With shares of Crown Castle, Digital Realty, and Prologis all tumbling more than 40% this year, they now offer much higher dividend yields. Because of that, passive income seekers can lock in a large income stream that should rise in the coming years. That makes them great ways to supercharge your passive income these days.

— Matthew DiLallo

Source: The Motley Fool