Why I’m Never Selling This Top Dividend Stock

This top dividend stock is in a sector that will pretty much always grow, with a dividend that’s remained steady and income that comes out monthly. So, I’m never selling.

Amy Legate-Wolfe

Author Bio Amy became interested in investing in 2018 after having her first daughter. After receiving a masters degree in journalism from Western University, she became frustrated that the finance industry remained a confusing place for Canadians like her: new parents, millennials, and other young people who needed to understand their finances. Now, Amy focuses on tech companies and renewable energy for growth opportunities, coupling that with long-term investing strategies and equities. She also provides investors with a daily newsletter, Canada Stock Digest, for daily market updates. Her work can also be found at Canada's National Observer, where she writes on the business side of climate action. Before joining Motley Fool Canada, Amy wrote for major news organizations including HuffPost, CTVNews.ca, and CBC. When she’s not researching investing strategies, Amy’s time is pretty much monopolized by her two wild daughters, but in what little spare time she has she loves to do yoga, go on walks with her dog, and travel with her husband. Social Media Follow Amy on LinkedIn and Canada Stock Digest. Favorite Investment Quote “October: This is one of the particularly dangerous months to speculate in stocks. The others are July, January, September, April, November, May, March, June, December, August and February.” – Mark Twain

Published May 22, 2022 10:30 am EDT

| More on: VITL.UN

Motley Fool investors may be like me as of late and taking a long, hard look at their investments. I’ll admit, I definitely fell for some of those growth stocks that zoomed upwards and are now falling like flies.

But there are some stocks I’ll stick by no matter what. And that includes one dividend stock that remains up, even today, with the market as it is. I’m no gate keeper, so I will be happy to share my top dividend stock choice — one that I’ll never sell pretty much as long as I live.

NorthWest Healthcare

NorthWest Healthcare Properties REIT (TSX:NWH.UN) continues to be a strong performer in my portfolio. Shares are down 6%. But since I purchased them two years ago, shares of the company are up an incredible 41% as of writing.

But that’s not why I bought the dividend stock. It’s due to the — you guessed it — dividend. NorthWest stock still offers a 6.23% dividend yield for investors — one that’s dished out each and every month. And even with all that’s going on, the company continues to perform well.

Let’s look at that next.

Stronger and stronger earnings

NorthWest’s most recent earnings results came off the back of a record-setting increase in net asset value of 11% year over year. Results were still strong for its $10 billion portfolio of 229 properties. The company maintained its strong occupancy rate to 97%, and it again saw its net asset value rise a further 15.4%.

Part of the strong growth came down to NorthWest continuing to grow through acquisitions. After purchasing an Australian healthcare REIT and properties in the Netherland, investors are excited about its entrance to the United States market.

This $753 million U.S. acquisition added even more diversification for the global healthcare REIT. But NorthWest maintained that it has even more assets in its pipeline. This includes in the United Kingdom and executing joint ventures.

For the first quarter, revenue was up 10.9% year over year, with same-property net operating income growing by 2.2%. The company also maintained a 14.6-year lease expiry, supported by an average lease expiry of 17 years for its international hospital portfolio.

What analysts say

Analysts weighing in on NorthWest REIT continue to peg it as an outperformer — even as interest rates rise, inflation climbs, and the pandemic eases. Healthcare will always be around, and, therefore, these healthcare properties will always be in use. But NorthWest has proven it can use its recent position to further long-term growth for investors.

Analysts believe the company will continue to seek out acquisitions and expansion, along with macro-trends, such as the move to privatized healthcare in parts of the world. This would include its exposure to the U.S. market.

Therefore, analysts continue to boost their potential upside for the stock, which is now at a target price of $15.31 as of writing. That’s a 18% upside as of writing.

And, of course, you get a solid dividend of 6.23% right now, today. That’s a strong amount of income for such a cheap share price and so much growth potential for the future.

Foolish takeaway

So, there you have it. I’m not selling this stock because, right now, I get plenty of monthly income, and my shares are still up even after the recent market decline. In fact, when in doubt I usually buy more of the stock, because it only means more income coming my way. But as the market corrects, I could be looking at solid returns as well. So, this is one stock I’ll never sell.