Hospitality Properties Trust (HPT) is a real estate investment trust (REIT). REITs were once a solid spot for dividend investors to park some cash and collect steady payouts. REITs normally offer solid yields and some good tax benefits to shareholders, but the financial crisis of 2008 changed the REIT landscape and those changes may have a lasting impact. Yields on REIT stocks doubled throughout 2008 as the stocks came tumbling down due to high leverage and poor loan quality at so many REITs. This transformed the sector from a dividend paradise to a dividend wasteland.

Dozens of REITs cut or eliminated their dividends to conserve cash. Others started paying their dividends in stock. That was little compensation as those stock dividends “rewarded” investors with shares in a company that the market had significantly beaten down.