Could W.P. Carey Become the Next Realty Income?
There's no way to dispute the dominance of Realty Income (NYSE: O) as a net lease real estate investment trust (REIT). It is roughly four times larger than its next closet rival, W.P. Carey (NYSE: WPC). The interplay between these two REITs, however, is kind of interesting. Right now, W.P. Carey is trying to look more like its larger competitor, but that wasn't always the case.
Realty Income owns single-tenant properties for which the occupants are responsible for most property-level operating costs. This is what's known as a net lease.
Although any single property is high risk, given there's just one tenant, across a large-enough portfolio the risk of this investment approach is fairly low. Realty Income is the leading net lease REIT, with a market cap of roughly $54 billion and a portfolio that contains more than 15,400 properties.
Source Fool.com
