GTY Stock: Could High-Yielding Dividend Contender Jump 20%?
September 12, 2025
Getty Realty Corp Hikes Dividend for 13th Straight Year
Today, I’m focusing on GTY stock. And for good reason.
Solid economic data and decent second-quarter results helped lift the S&P 500 to record territory. But it’s been in a holding pattern ahead of inflation data that will probably give us an idea about what the Federal Reserve is going to do with interest rates.
Most of Wall Street thinks the Fed will start cutting interest rates again this autumn. The big question is where interest rates will settle.
Odds are that interest rates will not fall back to where they were before the pandemic. In January 2020, interest rates stood at 1.75%; today, they’re sitting at 4.5%.
The Fed is trying to achieve what is referred to as a Goldilocks balance. Interest rates that are too high could push unemployment up, while rates that are too low could lead to higher inflation. A so-called neutral level gets things…just…right.
Right now, the unemployment rate is at 4.2%, higher than the 4.0% rate at the start of the year. In January, the inflation rate was 3.0% compared to around 2.7% today.
One group of stocks looking forward to seeing interest rates decline consists of real estate investment trusts (REITs). That’s because REITs are capital-intensive and need to borrow money to grow their operations. Lower interest rates also make it cheaper to service debt.
For investors, stocks may be hovering near all-time highs, but economic uncertainty means the S&P 500 could experience periods of volatility. REITs are a great place for income investor, because they have to legally distribute at least 90% of their taxable income to shareholders in the form of dividends.
And that’s what makes Getty Realty Corp (NYSE:GTY) such a compelling play.
Getty reported another quarter of solid results, with accelerating investment activity, continued earnings growth, and stable portfolio performance. The REIT raised its full-year 2025 earnings guidance and increased its dividend for the 13th consecutive year.
Wall Street remains bullish on GTY stock, with analysts expecting it to climb by more than 20% over the coming quarters.
About Getty Realty Corp
Getty Realty Corp is the leading publicly traded U.S. REIT specializing in the ownership, leasing, and financing of convenience store/gasoline station properties, and other single-tenant retail real estate (e.g., car wash, auto service, auto parts properties). (Source: “Corporate Profile, July 2025, Getty Realty Corp, last accessed August 28, 2025.)
Getty’s $2.5-billion portfolio includes 1,137 properties located in 44 states and Washington, D.C. The majority of its properties (63%) is made up of convenience and gas stations, followed by car washes (20%) and legacy gas & repair (8.0%).
The REIT’s properties are located in 61% of the top metropolitan statistical areas, with 69% of the portfolios located on corner locations. With a 99.7% occupancy rate, its essential e-commerce and recession resistant retail businesses come with 1.8% annual rent escalations.
Getty’s active acquisition strategy help diversify its tenant, property type, and geographic reach. In 2022, the REIT invested $157.5 million across 52 properties. In 2023, it invested a record $326.3 million across 81 properties. And, in 2024, it invested $209.0 million across 78 properties.
Another Solid Quarter
For the second quarter ended June 30, 2025, Getty Realty Corp reported net earnings of $0.24 per share, funds from operations (FFO) of $0.49 per share, and adjusted FFO of $0.59 per share. (Source: “Getty Realty Corp. Announces Second Quarter 2025 Results,” Getty Realty Corp, February 14, 2024.)
For the quarter, its base rental income increased 9.9% to $50.0 million, compared with $45.5 million n the same period in 2024. Year-to-date base rental income jumped 11.4% to $99.6 million, from $89.4 million in the first half of 2024.
During the quarter, the REIT invested $66.1 million across 28 properties. It has a committed investment pipeline of more than $90.0 million for the development and/or acquisition of 36 convenience and automotive retail properties.
Commenting on the results, Christopher J. Constant, Getty’s president and chief executive officer, said, “We are experiencing positive momentum across our business, including identifying new investment opportunities, raising our full-year 2025 earnings guidance, and reporting increased tenant rent coverage. Combined with our strong balance sheet and liquidity position, we are well-positioned for the second half of 2025.”
Increases 2025 AFFO
Thanks to year-to-date investment activity and the resolution of a previously disclosed tenant bankruptcy, Getty Realty increased its 2025 AFFO guidance to a range of $2.40 to $2.41 per diluted share from the prior range of $2.38 to $2.41 per diluted share.
AFFO is a measure of financial performance used by REITS to show cash flow generated by operations. This is an important measure, as it helps show the company’s ability to support, in part, its dividends.
GTY Stock: Quarterly Dividend Increased
Getty Realty’s high occupancy rate, rental incomes, and strong rent coverage ratios, coupled with its customer diversification across property type, geography, and tenant, help it provide investors with a reliable, growing, and ultra-high-yield dividend, for 13 years and counting.
This makes GTY stock a “Dividend Contender.” That is, any NYSE- or Nasdaq-listed company that has raised its annual dividend for between 10 and 24 consecutive years. The next level is the “Dividend Aristocrats”: S&P 500 companies that have raised their dividends for at least 25 years.
Back in October 2024, Getty Realty’s board of directors increased is quarterly payout by 4.4% to $0.47 per share. It has held its payout there since then. This translates into an annual distribution of $1.88 per share, or 6.6% on an annual basis. That’s more than twice the current inflation rate and far more than what you’d get with Dividend Aristocrats (i.e., average yield of 2.5%) and the S&P 500 (1.8%).
GTY shareholders are used to being on the receiving end of solid annual dividend increases. Since 2019, the REIT’s dividends per share have expanded at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 5.1%.
If history is any indicator, Getty will announce another increase to its dividend payout in just a couple of months.
GTY Stock Has 20%+ Upside
GTY stock has faced some pressure in 2025 on concerns of what a global trade war could do to the economy, consumer sentiment and spending. As of the time of this writing, GTY stock is down 3.4% year to date and 5.2% on an annual basis.
Despite being in the red, Wall Street is optimistic that GTY stock will rebound over the coming quarters, with analysts providing a 12-month share price target range of $32.14 to $34.00. This points to potential gains of up to 21%.
Chart courtesy of StockCharts.com
The Lowdown on GTY Stock
Getty Realty is a specialty REIT operating in an industry that has proven itself to be resistant to recessions and even pandemics. From 2019 to 2024, AFFO has increased at a CAGR of 5.4%, with dividends rising at a CAGR of 5.1%. Occupancy rates have been above 99%, with rent collections near 100%.
This has allowed Getty Realty to not just provide a big dividend, but also to increase its payout for the last 13 consecutive years. This is probably one good reason why 381 institutions hold 86.4% of all outstanding GTY shares. Some of the biggest holders of Getty Realty stock include BlackRock Inc, Vanguard Group Inc, State Street Corporation, and Charles Schwab Investment Management, Inc. (Source: “Holders,” Yahoo! Finance, last accessed August 28, 2025.)
