The Stock Market Is Historically Pricey: Here’s 1 Reason Realty Income Is Still a No-Brainer Buy

Markets hit peak valuation—yet this REIT defies gravity.

The Dividend Machine That Prints Through Cycles

While traditional stocks flirt with dangerous multiples, Realty Income's lease structure creates cash flow predictability that would make a Swiss watch jealous. Triple-net leases transfer maintenance costs to tenants—locking in returns while others sweat Fed meetings.

Wall Street's Overpriced Casino vs. Steady Eddie

Analysts obsess over P/E ratios climbing to dot-com bubble levels. Meanwhile, this property giant quietly collects rent checks from 13,000+ commercial properties. Their monthly dividend track record spans decades—something crypto maximalists would call 'boomer tech' but can't replicate with meme coins.

The Inflation Hedge Everyone Overlooked

Rent escalators built into contracts automatically adjust for CPI increases. Unlike tech stocks trading on AI hype, these buildings actually exist in physical space—a novel concept in today's digital asset mania.

While finfluencers chase the next shiny token, smart money builds positions in assets that pay you to wait. Sometimes the most revolutionary investment strategy is owning things people need rather than what algorithms want.

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A dirt cheap REIT

Realty Income currently expects to generate between $4.24 and $4.28 per share of adjusted funds from operations (FFO) this year. With its share price currently around $60, the REIT trades at about 14 times its forward earnings. That's well below the S&P 500's valuation and that of other REITs in that broad market index, which currently trade at about 18 times forward earnings on average.

That low valuation is why Realty Income currently offers such a high dividend yield. At nearly 5.5% it's well above the S&P 500 (1.2%) and REIT sector average of around 4%.

Realty Income trades at a lower valuation compared to its peer group, despite delivering peer-leading total operational returns (dividend yield plus FFO growth rate) over the past several years. For example, it has delivered a 9.7% average annual total operational return over the past five years, well above the 7.7% average of other REITs in the S&P 500.

The company remains in a strong position to continue producing above-average returns. It has one of the best balance sheets in the sector, giving it ample financial capacity to continue expanding its portfolio. That should enable Realty Income to continue increasing its high-yielding dividend. The REIT has currently raised its payment for 112 straight quarters.

Realty Income's low valuation, especially for such a high-quality company, makes it a no-brainer buy in the currently richly valued investment environment.