[video] REITs on the Street: Dividend Dynamo Alert

Top 10 Safest Companies To Own In Right Now

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Just over two years ago, American Realty Capital Properties (ARCP) listed shares on Nasdaq. With only two tenants -- Home Depot (HD) and Citizens Bank (C) -- the triple-net REIT capitalized the company with 5,580,000 shares that resulted in around $70 million in equity ($12.50 per share at IPO).

Today ARCP shares were trading down by 4.1%, to close at $12.22, with a market cap of around $2.64 billion. The recent price decline likely stemmed from the company's announced agreement to issue Series D Cumulative Convertible Preferred Common Stock, par value 1 cent per share, at a 5.81% coupon and common stock, par value 1 cent per share, to institutional holders of Series C Convertible Preferred Stock. Although the market didn't favor the share issuance news, dividend investors should; ARCP's dividend yield is now an eye-popping 7.45%.

In addition, and more impressive, the New York-based REIT has grown its portfolio from just two tenants (in late 2011) to 52. Better yet, ARCP has announced plans to acquire CapLease (LSE) and American Realty Capital Trust IV (a non-traded REIT) and when these deals close (this quarter) the company will own more than 2,574 stand-alone properties with 457 different tenants.

It's clear to see that ARCP has evolved into a "super sized" REIT that is gobbling up more net-leased properties than most of its smaller peers. By year-end, ARCP should be a dominating force, with a market cap of more than $10 billion. In the latest quarter, ARCP reported record operating results that included 19 cents per share in adjusted funds from operations ($32.8 million), or 23 cents per share in normalized AFFO. ARCP's second-quarter revenue was $45 million and net operating income was $37.9 million. On May 28, ARCP increased its annual dividend rate from 91 cents per share to 94 cents per share, contingent upon and effective with the earlier of the close of the ARCT IV merger and the CapLease merger. ARCP currently pays one of the highest dividend yields, 7.45%. With the pending increase (to 94 cents per share), two weeks from now, ARCP will be building a powerful source of dividend repeatability. Recently, I caught up with ARCP's co-founder and CEO, Nicholas Schorsch, to discuss his company's incredible growth and potential for increased competitive differentiation within the triple net REIT sector. In my exclusive interview, Schorsch provided some key strategies that have propelled American Realty Capital Properties into a formidable "sleep well at night" REIT.At the time of publication, Thomas was long ARCP, although positions may change at any time. Follow @swan_investor This article is commentary by an independent contributor, separate from TheStreet's regular news coverage.