Key Takeaways
- Omega Healthcare Investors yields 6.1% and VICI Properties yields 8.0%, after Omega raised its quarterly dividend by a penny to $0.68 a share in July.
- Omega’s dividend took 91% of its AFFO in fiscal 2025, a thin cushion, and consensus puts that at 87% for fiscal 2026.
- VICI’s dividend took 74% of its AFFO in fiscal 2025, the same as the fiscal 2026 consensus, and grew 7.1% a year from fiscal 2020 to fiscal 2025 while Omega’s held at $2.68 a share.
- VICI carries more debt, at 4.8x net debt to EBITDA against 3.5x for Omega.
Omega Healthcare Investors (OHI) raised its quarterly dividend by a penny in July, to $0.68 a share, after paying $2.68 a share in every fiscal year from 2020 to 2025. On its second-quarter call, management said the board made the move because coverage had improved and the operator watch list had shrunk.
Even after that raise, Omega yields 6.1% at the Oct. 9 close, well short of the 8.0% from VICI Properties (VICI). And VICI says it has raised its dividend every year since it went public in 2018.
Both are REITs, so each is judged on its AFFO payout. So which is the better high-yield dividend stock?
| Metric | Omega Healthcare (OHI) | VICI Properties (VICI) |
|---|---|---|
| Dividend yield | 6.1% | 8.0% |
| Dividend growth, fiscal 2020–2025 | 0.0% a year | 7.1% a year |
| AFFO payout ratio, fiscal 2025 | 91% | 74% |
| AFFO payout ratio, fiscal 2026 consensus | 87% | 74% |
| Net debt / EBITDA (LTM) | 3.5x | 4.8x |
| Interest coverage (LTM) | 3.9x | 4.3x |
| Price / AFFO (NTM) | 14.1x | 9.2x |
Omega’s cushion is coming back
Omega is reshaping its portfolio. In the second quarter of 2026 it sold 18 CommuniCare facilities for $480 million. It also moved 20 Ciena facilities to stronger-credit operators, while it added senior housing and U.K. care homes. On Oct. 5, it said it had moved 32 Florida skilled nursing facilities to PACS Group, with their rent set to rise $26.1 million in the first year. Matthew Gourmand became CEO on Oct. 1.
The dividend hasn’t had much room, though. It held at $2.68 a share from fiscal 2020 to fiscal 2025, while AFFO per share fell from $3.14 in fiscal 2021 to $2.62 in fiscal 2023, then recovered to $2.96 in fiscal 2025.
In fiscal 2023, the dividend took 102.3% of AFFO. The payout ratio came back to 91% in fiscal 2025, and consensus puts it at 87% for fiscal 2026. That’s better, but still thin.
The main risk is Genesis, an operator in Chapter 11. Omega expects Genesis to keep paying its full rent of $13.3 million a quarter and to repay $148 million of loans in the fourth quarter of 2026. The Florida move also came with a one-time expense of about $90 million, which Omega didn’t explain. With a payout near 90%, Omega has little room if anything slips.
VICI’s dividend has grown with its AFFO
Omega’s dividend stood still, but VICI’s has climbed every year. Its AFFO per share rose 4.6% to $0.62 in the second quarter of 2026. VICI added Clairvest, Golden Entertainment and Club Med as tenants, and it guides to 2026 AFFO of $2.45 to $2.47 a share, in line with the $2.46 consensus.
From fiscal 2018 to fiscal 2025, the dividend rose from $1.00 a share to $1.76, as AFFO per share went from $1.43 to $2.38.
The payout ratio stayed between 69.9% and 79.1% each year. VICI says it runs at about 75% of AFFO to keep room to grow the dividend. Its 74% in fiscal 2025, and again in the fiscal 2026 consensus, is right on that mark.
The risks are debt and its biggest tenant. VICI’s net debt is 4.8x EBITDA, against 3.5x for Omega. And Caesars, one of VICI’s two biggest tenants, is being bought by Fertitta Entertainment for $31 a share in cash, a deal Caesars’ shareholders approved on Sept. 22 and regulators still must. Caesars’ regional lease is still unsettled. “That is a conversation that will take place at some point,” CEO Ed Pitoniak said on the July 30 call, and “we obviously collect every dollar of rent in the meantime.”
So which dividend wins?
VICI Properties is the better high-yield dividend stock. It pays the bigger check, it covers that check with more to spare, and it keeps raising it.
Put $10,000 in VICI and it pays $800 a year at its 8.0% yield, against $610 from Omega at 6.1%. At fiscal 2025’s 3.5% pace, VICI pays about $1,093 in year 10, while Omega’s stays at about $610.
The stock is also cheap against its own history. At 9.2x forward AFFO, VICI trades well below its five-year average of 13.8x, and just above its five-year low of 9.1x on Oct. 5, 2026.
That isn’t to say Omega’s dividend is unsafe. It carries less debt, its coverage improved from 102.3% in fiscal 2023 to 91% in fiscal 2025, and its board just raised the payout. It’s just that, for a dividend I’m counting on to grow, I’d rather own VICI’s 74% payout and its record.
Of course, VICI’s Sept. 3 raise, to $0.46 a quarter, was just 2.2%, against 3.5% in fiscal 2025. How the Caesars deal and its regional lease settle is the next test.
So what is VICI Properties stock actually worth?
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