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The ultimate dividend stock should offer a high yield first and foremost, plus growth and a stable business. It should be a stock that you can count on through thick and thin, and that can rise to support the dividend.

I'm going to recommend Agree Realty (NYSE: ADC), which isn't a name every investor knows. But not only does it offer all of the above, it also pays a monthly dividend, an added and unusual perk. If you have $200 to spend on a top dividend stock, consider Agree.

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An up-and-coming REIT

Agree is a real estate investment trust (REIT). REITs buy properties and leases them, usually with long agreements. REITs are excellent dividend stocks because they pay out 90% of their earnings as dividends. But REITs come in different stripes. Some offer low yields, and others offer super-high yields but not a lot of stability.

Agree is a retail REIT, which means that it leases its properties to retailers. Other kinds include mortgage REITs, healthcare REITs, and others. One of the advantages of a retail REIT like Agree is that its tenants are mostly large chain stores that almost alway pay the rent due.

It owns 2,370 properties in 50 states, and its largest tenant is Walmart, which accounts for 6.3% of the portfolio. Other large tenants include Dollar General, TJX (including T.J.Maxx, Home Goods, and Marshalls), and Lowe's. These are large, established, quality brands.

Lots of growth opportunities

Agree has been around since 1971 and has a long track record of reliability, but it's still quite small, leaving it ample growth opportunities.

It's not substantially different from other retail REITs, but it focuses on tenants with omnichannel prospects, meaning both online and physical stores. It launched a campaign called Rethink Retail to challenge misconceptions about the future of physical retail. And one of its goals in partnering with retail chains as tenants is identifying companies that have robust future opportunities in integrating e-commerce and brick-and-mortar retail. It calls this strategy "omnichannel critical," or "e-commerce resistant." Examples include Tractor Supply, its second-largest tenant, and Boot Barn.

Management sees plenty of excellent properties to buy and expand its base. It acquired $341 million worth of properties in the 2024 fourth quarter, and it recently estimated 2025 acquisition spending of $1.1 billion to $1.3 billion.

It has about $2 billion in liquidity, which includes $900 million in forward equity outstanding and $1.1 billion in revolving credit, and it has no material debt maturities until 2028. It has reviewed $89 billion of opportunities since 2018 and acquired $7.7 billion, and it has identified 169,000 potential properties.

The dividend

Agree's dividend yields 4.2% at the current price, or nearly 3.5 times the S&P 500 average. The dividend has had a compound annual growth rate of 6% during the past 10 years, and the company switched from a quarterly to a monthly dividend in 2021.

The dividend yield moves inversely with the stock price, but Agree stock is up 26% during the past year. Like many real estate stocks, the shares fell amid an industry-wide slump, but it got a nice boost when the Federal Reserve announced interest rate cuts. Agree has been reporting healthy growth despite the climate, with a 2.8% increase year over year in adjusted funds from operations (a key metric of REIT performance) in the third quarter and a 2.6% increase in earnings per share.

A REIT, though, is not a growth stock, and investors buy them for the reliable passive income. A well-rounded portfolio features some strong dividend stocks, and Agree is an excellent choice if you're looking for a new dividend stock.

Should you invest $1,000 in Agree Realty right now?

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Jennifer Saibil has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends TJX Companies, Tractor Supply, and Walmart. The Motley Fool recommends Boot Barn and Lowe's Companies. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.