Editor’s Note: Today’s article covers a company paying six dividends in 2026 — because its base dividend consistently understates what it actually distributes. That gap between the headline yield and what investors actually collect is exactly what our colleague Robert Rapier built his research around at Utility Forecaster. See how the math compounds over time →

Question: Would you rather receive paychecks bi-weekly or monthly?

I’m guessing the answer is bi-weekly. The more frequent, the better. Right? Most investors feel the same way about dividends. If for no other reason, the opportunity to reinvest and compound those distributions 12 times annually rather than 4.

I hold more than a dozen monthly dividend payers in my High-Yield Investing portfolio. To be clear, that’s not why I own them. These businesses have other more important attributes, not the least of which are durable competitive advantages and bountiful free cash flows. The monthly dividend cadence is just a bonus.

I’ve also invested in foreign companies, like insurer Swiss Re (OTC: SSREY) that make distributions on an annual or semi-annual basis. Of course, here in the U.S. we are most accustomed to quarterly dividends.

But my favorite distribution policy (which is growing in popularity) involves a fifth payment, typically at the end of the year. These special dividends are variable in nature, tied to earnings or cash flows. They allow the company to reward shareholders in up cycles, without having to cut the base payout in down cycles.

One of my newest portfolio holdings adopted this philosophy several years ago. It makes regular $0.20 per share dividend payments in March, June, September and December. Then there’s a year-end supplement that floats with profits: $0.15 per share last year. $0.10 per share the year before. $0.25 per share in 2023.

Even at the low-end, that adds up to at least $0.90 annually, for a generous yield of 4% — more than three times the S&P average. And for every dollar distributed, the company produces more than $2 in cash flows – a comfortable 200%+ coverage ratio.

I’m talking about Host Hotels (NYSE: HST).

Founded by J. Willard Marriott (yes, that Marriott) in 1927, Host Hotels rebranded in 2006 following the $4.3 billion acquisition of Starwood and joined the S&P 500 shortly after. It has since delivered the highest returns in its peer group over the past decade.

Today, Host owns a global collection of 74 resorts containing more than 40,000 rooms. Only 1% of the portfolio is classified as midscale – 99% is rated either upper-upscale or luxury.

Some of these gems include the Coronado Island Marriott, the W Seattle, the 1 Hotel Central Park in New York and the Ritz-Carlton O’ahu in Hawaii.

Host’s discerning corporate and leisure guests expect a premium experience and don’t balk at lofty rates. The firm’s three hotels in Chicago are currently getting an average daily rate (ADR) of $287. That figure stands at $328 in Los Angeles, $437 in New York and a whopping $616 in Miami.

Worldwide, the current ADR is $335. Occupancy rates have leveled out near 75%. Multiplying those two figures yields revenues per available room (RevPAR) of $250.

There’s a secondary metric called total RevPAR, which as the name implies, includes ancillary revenues generated outside of the room. Many lodging companies don’t track it, because honestly it’s not much different than standard RevPAR – budget-minded guests need a bed, shower, free breakfast and not much else.

But at Host’s premium resorts, non-room spending categories account for almost half of total property revenues. There’s valet parking, sure, along with lounges, restaurants, spas, golf courses and other amenities. Including these operations, total RevPAR has climbed above $400 per room key, per night.

By GAAP standards, Host generated a profit of $241 million last quarter. But as a real estate owner, the bottom line is obscured by depreciation and other non-cash charges. Back those out of the picture, and the company produces twice as much in Funds from Operations (FFO).

And much of that cash goes right back to stockholders.

Of course, high-end resorts need routine maintenance and periodic refurbishing. Management has set aside about $600 million in capital expenditures this year for renovations and growth projects, investments primarily aimed at the Marriot and Hyatt brands.

In the meantime, FIFA World Cup visitors made a much bigger financial contribution to fiscal 2026 than initially forecast – which bodes well for the upcoming variable distribution.

What about the sixth dividend? Well, that resulted from an asset sale earlier this year. Specifically, the divestiture of Four Seasons resorts in Disney World and Jackson Hole, Wyoming, which netted a $500 million realized gain. All of it was returned to stockholders via a special payout of $0.72 per share – equivalent to nearly a full year’s worth of regular dividend income.

This won’t be the last of these deals.

Host is actively engaged in accretive portfolio recycling, shedding underperforming assets and carefully re-deploying the proceeds. Since 2018, the company has closed $6.4 billion in asset sales at a blended average price tag of 17 times EBITDA. That cash was then used to acquire new properties selling at 14 times EBITDA.

Sell high, buy low.

Through it all, Host has maintained a stout investment-grade balance sheet. In fact, it’s the only publicly-traded lodging REIT to make that claim — another added layer of security for dividend hunters.

The discipline Nathan describes above — a payout structure designed to reward shareholders across economic cycles without overcommitting the base dividend — is the same quality our colleague Robert Rapier screens for in Utility Forecaster. He focuses on essential-service businesses whose cash flows are regulated or contractually locked in, quarter after quarter. The yield you see on the screen today doesn’t reflect what the original buyers are actually collecting, because those dividends have been raised year after year while the cost never moved. Utility Forecaster has covered this sector since 1989, and the portfolio still holds positions entered in 1994 and 2000. See the Dividend Map →