18 US REITs forecast to boost dividends in Q3 2025

Analysts forecast dividend payments based on companies' prior payment histories, news, guidance, financial metrics estimates, debt levels, capital expense and other considerations. The forecasts are paired with confidence levels that gauge the relative certainty of those predictions. For more information on S&P Global Market Intelligence's dividend forecasting product, email dividendsupport@spglobal.com.

Eighteen publicly traded US real estate investment trusts are expected to raise dividend payouts in the third quarter, according to S&P Global Market Intelligence forecasts.

The remaining 119 public REITs included in the analysis are projected to maintain their dividend payout over the quarter.

RLJ Lodging projected to lead the hikes in Q3

Analysts forecast that hotel REIT RLJ Lodging Trust is likely to increase its dividend by an estimated 13.3% to 17 cents per share in August, the highest potential dividend hike to be announced in the third quarter.

During the hotel REIT's May 5 earnings call, former CFO Sean Mahoney noted that with respect to capital allocation, the REIT intends to invest in projects to unlock the embedded value within the REIT's portfolio, but at the same time, still be committed to returning capital to shareholders through both repurchases and dividends.

"We will continue making prudent capital allocation decisions to both provide stability and to position our portfolio to drive growth during the entire lodging cycle, while monitoring the financing markets to identify additional opportunities to improve the [laddering] of our debt maturities, reduce our weighted average cost of debt and increase balance sheet flexibility," according to Mahoney.

Mahoney also mentioned adjusted funds from operations (FFO) 2025 guidance is expected to range between $1.38 and $1.58 per share, which incorporates shares repurchased to date, but no additional repurchases. Comparable RevPAR growth is expected to range from negative 1% to positive 1%, comparable hotel EBITDA is expected to range between $365.5 million and $395.5 million and corporate adjusted EBITDA between $332.5 million and $362.5 million.

Next on the list of highest forecast dividend hikes for the upcoming quarter is the diversified REIT Alexander & Baldwin Inc., which is expected to announce an 11.1% dividend payout increase to 25 cents per share in late July. During the diversified REIT's April 24 earnings call, it was confirmed that the company's FFO guidance for this year was increased to a range between $1.17 and $1.23 per share, which, according to Alexander & Baldwin CFO, Clayton K. Y. Chun, reflects the REIT's better-than-expected first quarter land operations results.

Healthcare-focused Welltower Inc. is also expected to announce a higher payout in the third quarter, with a potential 9.0% increase of its quarterly dividend to 73 cents per share.

"I'm pleased to report that we began the year on a positive note, delivering approximately 19% growth in FFO per share, driven by better-than-expected results from our Seniors Housing Operating Portfolio and significant acquisition activity. These results and our refreshed outlook for the remainder of the year have enabled us to raise the midpoint of our full-year FFO guidance by 10 cents per share to $4.97," said Welltower Inc. CEO Shankh Mitra during the REIT's first-quarter earnings call on April 29.

– For further dividend analysis, try S&P Global Market Intelligence's REIT Dividends template. – Set email alerts for future Data Dispatch articles. – Read some of the day's top real estate news and insights from S&P Global Market Intelligence.

Majority of US REITs to retain current dividends

Approximately 75.8% of the US REIT industry is expected to maintain their regular cash dividends during the third quarter.

In terms of property types, 50% of single tenant REITs are expected to raise their dividends in the upcoming quarter.

Digital Realty Trust Inc., one of two datacenters, and VICI Properties Inc., one of two casinos in the analysis, are expected to announce higher dividends in the third quarter.

The former is predicted to raise its quarterly dividend by 4.1% to $1.27 per share, while the latter is projected to have a 4.0% quarterly dividend hike to 45 cents per share.

Regional mall REIT CBL & Associates Properties Inc. is projected to raise its dividend in the third quarter by 6.2% to 42.5 cents per share.

Around 23.1% of the 13 industrial REITs are also expected to raise their dividends during the same period.