Key Takeaways
- VICI Properties yields 7.4% and Realty Income 5.7%, and both raised their 2026 AFFO guidance with their third-quarter results.
- Both dividends are well-covered, at 74% and 75% of fiscal 2025 AFFO per share, and 74% and 73% on 2026 estimates.
- VICI’s dividend grew 7.1% a year from fiscal 2020 to fiscal 2025, against 2.9% for Realty Income, which has raised its payout for over 32 years in a row.
- VICI’s main risk is Caesars, its biggest tenant, whose credit downgrade led to a $478 million non-cash charge in the third quarter.
Anyone hunting for dividend income in real estate is going to look at VICI Properties (VICI) and Realty Income (O). Both yield more than 5%, and both raised their 2026 outlooks with their third-quarter results.
But VICI’s report on Oct. 28 came with a catch: a credit downgrade at Caesars, its biggest tenant. Realty Income, meanwhile, just extended a dividend record that goes back more than three decades.
So which is the better dividend stock?
| Metric | VICI Properties (VICI) | Realty Income (O) |
|---|---|---|
| Dividend yield | 7.4% | 5.7% |
| Dividend growth, fiscal 2020-2025 | 7.1% a year | 2.9% a year |
| Dividend record (company’s count) | 9 straight years of growth | Over 32 straight years of raises |
| AFFO payout ratio, fiscal 2025 | 74% | 75% |
| AFFO payout ratio, fiscal 2026 consensus | 74% | 73% |
| Net debt/EBITDA (LTM) | 5.4x | 5.7x |
| Interest coverage (LTM) | 3.8x | 2.4x |
Source: TIKR, Nov. 5, 2026; dividend records are the companies’ own.
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VICI pays more, and the cash backs it
VICI’s third-quarter revenue rose 5.8% to $1.1 billion, and AFFO per share rose 4.3% to $0.62. It now expects $2.47-$2.48 of AFFO per share for 2026, up from $2.45-$2.47 a quarter ago. It has also added four new tenants this year, Club Med and Golden Entertainment among them.
On Sept. 3, VICI raised its quarterly dividend 2.2% to $0.46 a share, its ninth straight year of dividend growth. AFFO per share has stayed ahead of the dividend every year, rising from $1.43 in fiscal 2018 to $2.38 in fiscal 2025:
Management targets a payout ratio of about 75%. CEO Edward Pitoniak called that “a benchmark that we believed in from day 1. And I don’t think our belief in it has altered.” VICI’s new $2 billion buyback, which runs through 2029, would be funded from loan repayments, uncommitted cash flow or asset sales.
The risk is Caesars, about 35% of VICI’s lease revenue. Its downgrade, tied to its merger with Fertitta Entertainment, forced a $478.2 million credit-loss charge that cut third-quarter net income 55.1%. The charge is non-cash, and AFFO guidance went up anyway. But management is still weighing whether to rework the Caesars regional lease or sell parts of it.
Realty Income’s record is hard to beat
Realty Income’s quarter brought no surprise like VICI’s. Third-quarter AFFO rose 3.7% to $1.12 a share, occupancy was 98.8% at Sept. 30, 2026, against 98.7% a year earlier, and 2026 AFFO guidance went up to $4.45-$4.46 a share, from $4.44-$4.45.
Realty Income grows by buying. It invested $2.6 billion in the third quarter, $1.15 billion of it in industrial properties, and it expects same-store rent to rise just 1.1%-1.3% in 2026.
In September, it announced its 136th dividend increase since its 1994 listing, taking the monthly payout to $0.2715 a share from $0.2710. Raises that small add up slowly: 2.9% a year from fiscal 2020 to fiscal 2025. AFFO per share has outpaced the dividend, climbing from $2.88 in fiscal 2016 to $4.28 in fiscal 2025, while the dividend went from $2.39 to $3.22:
That took its AFFO payout ratio from a tight 83% in fiscal 2016 to a comfortable 75% in fiscal 2025.
Its debt is the main risk. About $2.9 billion comes due in 2027 at a rate under 3%, so refinancing it will cost more at today’s higher rates, and its interest coverage is already thinner than VICI’s.
So which dividend wins?
VICI is the better dividend stock. It pays the bigger check, has grown its dividend faster, covers it just as well, and carries less debt against its earnings.
$10,000 in VICI pays $740 a year today, against $570 from Realty Income. Even at fiscal 2025’s slower 3.5% raise, VICI’s income would reach about $1,011 in year 10, against about $736 from Realty Income at its steady 2.9%. Realty Income never catches up.
VICI is also cheaper. It trades at 9.9x forward AFFO, against a five-year average of 14x and a low of 9.1x on Oct. 5, 2026:
Realty Income, by comparison, trades at 13x.
This isn’t to say Realty Income’s dividend isn’t safe. Its coverage is solid, its occupancy is near full, and a record that long, paid monthly, is one management will work very hard to keep. It’s just that, for a bigger and faster-growing check at a price well below VICI’s usual multiple, I’ll take on the Caesars question.
Of course, whatever VICI decides on the Caesars regional lease could change that, and management hasn’t said when it will decide.
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Disclaimer:
Please note that the articles on TIKR are not intended to serve as investment or financial advice from TIKR or our content team, nor are they recommendations to buy or sell any stocks. We create our content based on TIKR Terminal’s investment data and analysts’ estimates. Our analysis might not include recent company news or important updates. TIKR has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. Thank you for reading, and happy investing!
