You Can Do Better Than Nike. Buy This High-Yield Dividend Stock Instead.

Realty Income's expansive portfolio helps protect it from downturns affecting any single industry or company.

The company reported 98.8% of its properties were occupied at the end of the second quarter.

If you're still waiting for Nike (NYSE: NKE) to make its long-awaited turnaround, you are likely very disappointed in the athletic wear company. Nike stock is down 33% so far this year and shows no signs of righting the ship.

I'm as patient as the next guy, but it's hard to see a holding lose value in a downtrodden stock like Nike has. Especially when there are great options on the table that have a long track record of performance. And when you add a 5% dividend yield, why look any further?

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Realty Income (NYSE: O) has long been my favorite high-yield dividend stock . Shares are up 11% so far this year, but thanks to Realty Income's famed monthly dividend (currently yielding just over 5%), your total return from the real estate investment trust is a solid 15% so far this year.

Let's look closer at Realty Income, which just announced its second-quarter earnings results on Aug. 5.

Realty Income is a REIT -- a specialized entity that holds commercial real estate, residential rental properties, or other types of real estate. Congress approved REITs in the 1960s to give retail investors access to income-producing real estate.