Mall consumers feel pain in their wallet every time they go to a gas station to pump gas. According to AAA, the average retail gasoline price is currently above $4.50 per gallon, about $1.50 per gallon higher than this time last year. That makes Memorial Day travel plans much more expensive for the roughly 36.2 million Americans hitting the road this weekend, an 8.3% increase in travelers from last year.

However, there are ways to mitigate the effects of high gasoline prices. For example, several techniques can help save money at the pump as gas prices rise. Another strategy is to earn income from gasoline demand to help offset your gas expenses. One way to do this is to invest in Getty Real Estate (NYSE: GTY)a real estate investment trust (REITs) that owns gas stations and other automotive-related real estate. His dividend, currently yielding almost 6%, could go a long way towards offsetting the rise in gasoline prices.

Image source: Getty Images.

Cash in on cars

Getty Realty has more than 1,000 independent single-tenant properties where people spend money in or on their cars. These include convenience stores, gas stations, car washes, auto services, and auto parts stores. About three-quarters of its portfolio is made up of gas stations and convenience stores, while 11% is made up of traditional gas and repair locations.

Getty leases these properties to operators under a long-term triple net (NNN) leases. This lease structure ensures very stable rental income because its tenants are responsible for the maintenance, property taxes and insurance of the building. Additionally, it is not exposed to gas price volatility or volumes, so Getty produces very stable income to pay an attractive dividend.

The fuel to keep increasing the payment

Getty Realty has an excellent track record of growing its dividend: the REIT has increased it at a compound annual rate of 5.4% since 2015. Growth drivers include steadily increasing rental income from its existing properties (most leases include rental rate escalation clauses of 1.7% per annum). ) and the constant expansion of its portfolio.

The REIT employs a build-and-buy growth strategy. It finances the development of new sites when interesting opportunities arise. For example, it is currently funding two new convenience stores and two new car wash developments. In the meantime, it will acquire properties from other investors or directly from operators sale-leaseback transactions; it bought 10 car washes for $42 million and three convenience stores for $8.1 million earlier this year. Getty Realty is also selectively redeveloping properties to better utilize each location and achieve higher returns on investment. It currently has five properties under active redevelopment and others in various stages of planning.

Getty Realty has great financial flexibility to continue its expansion. The REIT currently pays out less than 80% of its operating funds in the form of dividends, allowing it to retain cash to reinvest in expanding its portfolio. In the meantime, it has a strong investment-grade balance sheet, which gives it additional debt capacity to make investments.

The company should have many opportunities to continue to grow. Many operators in the automotive service industry currently own their real estate. They could unlock that value by selling it to a REIT like Getty Realty.

A high octane dividend

Gasoline prices are painful these days, and many consumers are looking for ways to lessen its impact on their wallets. Getty Realty offers an intriguing way to do this by pumping money into your wallet instead of siphoning it off. That makes it an attractive option if you’re hoping to mitigate some of the impact of high gas prices.

10 stocks we like better than Getty Realty
When our award-winning team of analysts have stock advice, it can pay to listen. After all, the newsletter they’ve been putting out for over a decade, Motley Fool Equity Advisortripled the market.*

They have just revealed what they believe to be the ten best stocks for investors to buy now…and Getty Realty wasn’t one of them! That’s right – they think these 10 stocks are even better buys.

View all 10 stocks

* Equity Advisor Returns as of April 27, 2022

Matthew DiLallo has no position in the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has no position in the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.