Updated on August 3rd, 2023

Monthly dividend stocks can be a profitable investment option for those seeking stable income since they provide a regular and continuous stream of cash flow.

Monthly dividends, as opposed to quarterly or annual dividends, allow investors to receive payments more often, which can assist to fund living costs or complement other sources of income. Monthly dividend stocks can also boost returns because investors can reinvest dividends more frequently to increase their wealth over time.

You can see all 84 monthly dividend stocks here.

You can download our full Excel spreadsheet of all monthly dividend stocks (along with metrics that matter, like dividend yield and payout ratio) by clicking on the link below:

In this article, we look at the 10 monthly dividend stocks from our Sure Analysis Research Database, with the highest 5-year expected total returns.

The stocks have been arranged in ascending order based on their 5-Year Expected Total Returns.

Table of Contents

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Monthly Dividend Stock #10: EPR Properties (EPR)

• 5-Year Expected Total Return: 11.6%
• Dividend Yield: 7.4%

EPR Properties is a specialty real estate investment trust, or REIT, that invests in properties in specific market segments that require industry knowledge to operate effectively. It selects properties it believes have strong return potential in Entertainment, Recreation, and Education.

The portfolio includes about $7 billion in investments across 300+ locations in 44 states, including over 250 tenants.

Source: Investor Presentation

EPR posted first quarter earnings on April 26th, 2023, and results were better than expected on both revenue and profits. The REIT posted funds-from-operations of $1.26 per share, which was seven cents ahead of estimates. Revenue was up 8.8% year-over-year to $171 million, and beat expectations by $21 million.

EPR noted it will not provide guidance for this year because of the ongoing Regal bankruptcy proceedings. The REIT noted it has collected all scheduled rent and deferral payments through April from Regal and that the two parties are working on a resolution going forward. Adjusted EBITDAre of $137 million was up from $124 million a year ago.

Click here to download our most recent Sure Analysis report on EPR (preview of page 1 of 3 shown below):

Monthly Dividend Stock #9: Ellington Residential Mortgage REIT (EARN)

• 5-Year Expected Total Return: 11.6%
• Dividend Yield: 13.5%

Ellington Residential Mortgage REIT acquires, invests in, and manages residential mortgage and real estate related assets. Ellington focuses primarily on residential mortgage-backed securities, specifically those backed by a U.S. Government agency or U.S. government–sponsored enterprise.

Agency MBS are created and backed by government agencies or enterprises, while non-agency MBS are not guaranteed by the government.

Source: Investor Presentation

On May 11th, 2023, Ellington Residential reported its first quarter results for the period ending March 31st, 2023. The company generated net income of $2.3 million, or $0.17 per share. Ellington achieved adjusted distributable earnings of $2.8 million in the quarter, leading to adjusted earnings of $0.21 per share, which does not cover the dividend paid in the period. EARN achieved a net interest margin of 1.16% in Q1.

At quarter end, Ellington had $36.7 million of cash and cash equivalents, and $7.4 million of other unencumbered assets. The debt-to-equity ratio was 7.6X. Book value per share declined from the previous quarter to $8.31, a 1.1% sequential decrease.

Click here to download our most recent Sure Analysis report on EARN (preview of page 1 of 3 shown below):

Monthly Dividend Stock #8: Prospect Capital (PSEC)

• 5-Year Expected Total Return: 11.7%
• Dividend Yield: 11.3%

Prospect Capital Corporation is a Business Development Company, or BDC, that provides private debt and private equity to middle–market companies in the U.S. The company focuses on direct lending to owner–operated companies, as well as sponsor–backed transactions.

Prospect invests primarily in first and second lien senior loans and mezzanine debt, with occasional equity investments. 

Source: Investor Presentation

Prospect posted third quarter earnings on May 9th, 2023, and results were worse than expected on both the top and bottom lines. Net investment income was 21 cents per share, which was two cents light against estimates, and down from 23 cents in the prior quarter. Total investment income was up 19% year-over-year to $215 million, but missed expectations by $5.8 million.

Click here to download our most recent Sure Analysis report on PSEC (preview of page 1 of 3 shown below):

Monthly Dividend Stock #7: Itau Unibanco Holding SA (ITUB)

• 5-Year Expected Total Return: 11.8%
• Dividend Yield: 3.5%

Itaú Unibanco Holding S.A. is headquartered in Sao Paulo, Brazil. Itaú is the most prominent financial conglomerate in the Southern Hemisphere, the world’s tenth-largest bank by market value, and the largest Latin American bank by assets and market capitalization. The bank has operations across South America and the United States, Portugal, Switzerland, China, Japan, and more.

On May 8th, 2023, Itaú Unibanco reported first-quarter results for 2023. In the first quarter of 2023, the company recurring managerial result increased by 10.0% to $1.68 billion. The recurring managerial return on equity stood at 20.7% on a consolidated basis and 21.1% in Brazil. The loan portfolio showed modest growth of 0.6% in Brazil and 1.0% on a consolidated basis due to the challenging economic environment.

The individuals’ loan portfolio in Brazil increased by 0.9%, with a decline of 3.5% in the credit card portfolio and a rise of 5.3% in personal loans. The company consolidated efficiency ratio reached its best level in history at 39.8%, with a ratio of 37.9% in Brazil.

Click here to download our most recent Sure Analysis report on ITUB (preview of page 1 of 3 shown below):

Monthly Dividend Stock #6: Ellington Financial (EFC)

• 5-Year Expected Total Return: 12.5%
• Dividend Yield: 13.4%

Ellington Financial Inc. acquires and manages mortgage, consumer, corporate, and other related financial assets in the United States. The company acquires and manages residential mortgage–backed securities (RMBS) backed by prime jumbo, Alt–A, manufactured housing, and subprime residential mortgage loans.

Additionally, it manages RMBS, for which the U.S. government guarantees the principal and interest payments. It also provides collateralized loan obligations, mortgage–related and non–mortgage–related derivatives, equity investments in mortgage originators and other strategic investments.

Source: Investor Presentation

Mortgage REITs are appealing to investors because they give exceptionally high dividend yields to shareholders and are required by law to distribute the bulk of their income. As a result, the company’s dividend yield has averaged 10.2% over the last decade.

While management has already restored its monthly dividend rate following the most recent dividend drop, the dividend is barely covered. Based on the dividend’s historical downward trend, slight declines in the future are possible if profits fail to rise significantly in the coming years.

Click here to download our most recent Sure Analysis report on Ellington Financial Inc (EFC) (preview of page 1 of 3 shown below):

Monthly Dividend Stock #5: LTC Properties, Inc (LTC)

• 5-Year Expected Total Return: 12.8%
• Dividend Yield: 6.8%

LTC Properties is a real estate investment trust that invests in senior housing and skilled nursing facilities. Its portfolio includes approximately 52% assisted living properties and 47% skilled nursing properties. The REIT owns 215 investments in 29 states with 31 operating partners.

Source: Investor Presentation

The bankruptcy of Senior Care Centers, Texas’ largest skilled nursing operator, has harmed LTC Properties. In December 2018, Senior Care filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. Until 2018, it accounted for 9.7% of LTC Properties’ annual revenues and was the trust’s fifth largest customer.

The fact that LTC Properties has the majority of its assets in states with the highest projected increases in the 80+ age cohort over the next decade is a driving force for future growth.

Click here to download our most recent Sure Analysis report on LTC Properties, Inc (LTC) (preview of page 1 of 3 shown below):

Monthly Dividend Stock #4: AGNC Investment Corp (AGNC)

• 5-Year Expected Total Return: 13.5%
• Dividend Yield: 14.3%

AGNC is an internally managed REIT that was founded in 2008. Unlike most REITs, which own physical properties that are leased to tenants, AGNC operates on a different business model. It is a REIT that specializes in mortgage securities.

AGNC invests in agency mortgage-backed securities. It generates income by collecting interest on its invested assets less borrowing costs. It also records gains and losses from its investments and hedging practices. Agency securities are those whose principal and interest payments are guaranteed by a government-sponsored entity or the government itself. They are generally less risky than private mortgages.

Source: Investor Presentation

AGNC has paid monthly dividends of $0.12 per share since April 2020, following a dividend decrease in 2020. This equates to an annualized distribution of $1.44 per share.

Furthermore, AGNC’s dividend is highly uncertain. AGNC cut its dividend many times in the last decade and, most recently, three years ago. While we do not consider a dividend cut as an urgent risk at this time, given that the payout ratio has slightly improved, we do not rule it out if AGNC’s investment returns take a sudden cut.

Click here to download our most recent Sure Analysis report on AGNC Investment Corp (AGNC) (preview of page 1 of 3 shown below):

Monthly Dividend Stock #3: SL Green Realty Corp. (SLG)

• 5-Year Expected Total Return: 18.4%
• Dividend Yield: 8.8%

SL Green is a self-managed REIT that manages, acquires, develops, and leases New York City Metropolitan office properties. In fact, the trust is the largest owner of office real estate in New York City, with the majority of its properties located in midtown Manhattan. It is Manhattan’s largest office landlord, with 60 buildings totaling about 33 million square feet.

Source: Investor Presentation

In mid-July, SLG reported (7/19/2023) financial results for the second quarter of fiscal 2023. Its same-store net operating income grew 3.6% over the prior year’s quarter but its occupancy rate dipped sequentially from 90.2% to 89.8%.

Given also the negative effect of some assets sales, its funds from operations (FFO) per share decreased -24% over the prior year’s quarter, from $1.87 to $1.43, though they exceeded the analysts’ consensus by $0.09.

Click here to download our most recent Sure Analysis report on SL Green Realty Corp. (SLG) (preview of page 1 of 3 shown below):

Monthly Dividend Stock #2: ARMOUR Residential REIT Inc (ARR)

• 5-Year Expected Total Return: 20.7%
• Dividend Yield: 18.8%

As an mREIT, ARMOUR Residential invests in residential mortgage-backed securities that include U.S. Government-sponsored entities (GSE) such as Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. It also includes Ginnie Mae, the Government National Mortgage Administration’s issued or guaranteed securities backed by fixed-rate, hybrid adjustable-rate, and adjustable-rate home loans.

Unsecured notes and bonds issued by the GSE and the US Treasury, money market instruments, and non-GSE or government agency-backed securities are examples of other types of investments.

The trust generates revenue by issuing debt, preferred and common equity, and then reinvesting the proceeds in higher-yielding debt instruments. The spread (the difference between the cost of capital and the return on capital) is then largely returned to common shareholders in the form of dividend payments, though the trust commonly keeps a portion of the profits to reinvest in the business.

Source: Investor Presentation

ARMOUR is beginning to show signs of recovery and should continue to do so in the next quarters and years. Looking forward, we anticipate that the company will grow slowly and that it will take a long time to return to past levels of book value and earnings power.

Click here to download our most recent Sure Analysis report on ARMOUR Residential REIT Inc (ARR) (preview of page 1 of 3 shown below):

Monthly Dividend Stock #1: Hugoton Royalty Trust (HGTXU)

• 5-Year Expected Total Return: 26.8%
• Dividend Yield: 32.5%

Hugoton Royalty Trust was created in late 1998, when XTO Energy conveyed 80% net profit interests in some predominantly gas-producing properties in Kansas, Oklahoma and Wyoming to the trust. Net profits in each area are calculated by subtracting production costs, development costs and labor costs from revenues. The trust, which produced 88% natural gas and 12% oil in 2021, has a market capitalization of $45 million.

Due to its pure upstream nature, Hugoton is highly sensitive to the cycles of gas prices. Between April 2018 and October 2020, the costs of the trust exceeded its revenues due to suppressed gas prices. As a result, Hugoton did not offer any distributions during that period. Even worse, when gas prices began to recover in late 2020, the trust had to wait for its revenues to offset past losses. Hugoton resumed paying monthly distributions in August 2022.

Click here to download our most recent Sure Analysis report on HGTXU (preview of page 1 of 3 shown below):

Final Thoughts

Monthly dividend stocks might be an appealing option for investors looking for a consistent income stream, whether for meeting daily needs or regular compounding. While no investment is risk-free, some monthly dividend stocks have a track record of financial stability, steady profitability, and consistent dividend payments.

Our list of the ten best monthly dividend stocks presented in this article includes companies from a variety of industries that rank high based on our 5-year expected total return forecasts.

While all the companies on this list have strong expected total returns, some of them have previously cut their dividend or pay distributions based only on how much they generate annually. Almost all of them have a dividend risk score of F in our Sure Analysis Research Database. As a result, individual investors must perform their due diligence before making investment decisions.

If you are interested in finding high-quality dividend growth stocks and/or other high-yield securities and income securities, the following Sure Dividend resources will be useful:

Monthly Dividend Stock Individual Security Research

High-Yield Individual Security Research

Other Sure Dividend Resources