Here's How Many Shares of Realty Income (O) Stock You'd Need for $1,000 in Monthly Dividends

If you're in the market for some reliable and generous dividend income, consider Realty Income (NYSE: O). It's not only a dividend payer, recently sporting a dividend yield of 5.12%, but it's also a monthly dividend payer. (Most companies pay their dividends quarterly.) A monthly dividend can be especially attractive to anyone planning to live off of that income.

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You can expect that dividend to grow. Realty Income's last increase, announced in June, was its 115th consecutive quarterly increase. It has paid its monthly dividend for more than 670 consecutive months -- or more than 55 years!

Realty Income is a real estate investment trust (REIT) -- a company that owns a lot of real estate and leases it to tenants. Better still, it employs "triple-net leases," which require tenants to cover real estate taxes, property insurance, and operating expenses. Its portfolio encompasses more than 15,500 properties in all 50 U.S. states and parts of Europe. It's well diversified, too, with more than 1,700 clients in more than 90 different industries. Top industries include grocery stores, convenience stores, and home improvement stores.

The company is run very well, which is evident from its portfolio occupancy level, which was recently 98.8% and has never been below 96%. That points to considerable stability and a rather dependable dividend. This is not a stock that's likely to surge in value, but it should be a reliable, long-term slow grower while delivering regular dollars into your account.

One way that it might juice its growth is via data centers. It's partnering with other companies to develop data centers -- which are growing rapidly across America.

So, how many shares of Realty Income would you need if you were seeking $1,000 in monthly income ($12,000 per year)? Well, with each share recently delivering $0.271 per month, you'd need about 3,690 shares. With shares recently trading for around $62 apiece, those shares would cost you nearly $230,000. Most of us might want to settle for perhaps $100 or less per month!

Selena Maranjian has positions in Realty Income. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Realty Income. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.