But are these fears overblown, and is it a good time to be greedy when others are fearful? After all, bookmakers still believe the odds of Britain remaining in the EU is well over 70%. What’s more, underlying long term fundamentals are supportive too. There remains a chronic shortage of high quality space available for businesses, while the “lower for longer” outlook on interest rates should keep rental yields low and property prices buoyant.

Growing dividends

Shares in Land Securities (LSE: LAND) currently trade at an 18% discount to net asset value (NAV), despite the REIT having one of the most attractive development pipelines. With additional rental income coming in from the completion of new office and retail developments, earnings are forecast to grow 6% this year, with a further 8% pencilled in for 2017.

Since 2012, Land Securities has increased its dividend more than 20%, and I think there is more growth to come. The REIT currently yields 2.8% today, and is projected to grow its dividend by 5% in 2016. A similar amount of dividend growth should follow in the following year, giving investors a prospective dividend yield of 3.4% by the end of 2017.

Retail exposure

intu Properties (LSE: INTU), a shopping centre REIT, trades at an even steeper discount to its NAV, of 24%. But being more heavily exposed to the retail sector, intu is arguably at a lower risk from a potential Brexit. That’s because most economists don’t expect an immediate shock to consumer spending in the event of Brexit, meaning retail rents and vacancy rates should remain stable in the immediate aftermath of the EU referendum.

Shares in intu currently yield 4.7%, and city analysts are forecasting a 1% increase in its dividend this year.

Non-cyclical

Target Healthcare REIT (LSE: THRL) should keep profiting from steady growth in healthcare needs. Healthcare demand is non-cyclical, and the need for purpose-built care homes is ever-increasing, given the rapidly ageing population.

As is typical of the sector, Target Healthcare benefits from long-term full repairing and insuring leases, which include upwards-only annual rental increases. This allows the REIT to generate very predictable cash flows year after year, which enables it to pay shareholders almost all of its earnings through dividends.

Since its IPO in 2013, Target Healthcare has delivered a total return of 17%, with its shares currently yielding 5.8%.

Better yield, but higher fees

Like Target Healthcare, MedicX Fund (LSE: MXF) invests in the healthcare sector. The fund currently pays a quarterly dividend of 1.475p per share, with underlying dividend cover of 63.0%. At today’s share price of 84p, the fund currently yields 7.0%.

Although MedicX has a more attractive yield than Target Healthcare, there is a downside. MedicX charges higher management fees — its 2015 ongoing charge, which includes a 15% performance fee on total shareholder returns above 8%, was 2.83%, compared to 2.01% for Target Healthcare, according to data from the Association of Investment Companies (AIC).

Massive 7.7% yield

Finally, U and I Group (LSE: UAI) seeks to make property investments that have the potential to gemerate strong financial returns as well as long-lasting social and economic change for local communities. The REIT focuses on regenerating city centre properties and investing in higher yielding warehouse development opportunities in the British regions.

Including the 8p per share yearly special dividend, U and I Group currently yields a massive 7.7%. Its dividend is comfortably supported by an 81% payout ratio, well below the 90% level which is usually considered to be an acceptable maximum for REITs.

Trading at a 38% discount to NAV, value investors should keep an eye on this REIT.

The post 5 REITs with yields up to 7.5%: Land Securities Group plc, Intu Properties plc, Target Healthcare REIT Ltd, Medicx Fund Ltd. & U and I Group plc appeared first on The Twelfth Magpie.

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Jack Tang has a position in Land Securities Group plc. The Motley Fool UK has no position in any of the shares mentioned. We Fools don't all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors.

With this in mind, should you buy Royal Dutch Shell (LSE: RDSA)(LSE: RDSB), Ashmore Group (LSE: ASHM) and MedicX Fund (LSE: MXF)?

Earnings slump

If we ignored Shell’s recent earnings slump, then the oil giant would look like an amazing dividend stock. The company has never cut its dividends since the end of the second world war, benefits from a 5-year average gross margin of nearly 17% and has very low levels of indebtedness.

Unfortunately, we can’t ignore Shell’s declining profitability, as the signs point to an uncertain future. Shell has already had to conserve cash by freezing its quarterly dividend at $0.47 per share and re-introduced its Scrip Dividend Programme in 2015. Low oil prices, which caused underlying annual earnings to fall 53% over the past year, is likely to persist for longer than expected and possibly fall to as low as $10 per barrel.

To finance the gap between operating cash flow and spending on capex and dividends, Shell has resorted to selling assets and raising new debt. Net gearing remains low, at 14.0%, compared to 12.2% last year. But, this has only been made possible by large-scale asset sales (which helped bring down oil production by 4% to 2.95m barrels of oil equivalent per day) and because Shell’s costly acquisition of BG Group has yet to be completed. The BG deal will do little to help Shell’s cash flow either, as BG’s annual free cash flow (before dividend payments) in 2015 was a negative $2.4bn.

So, unless oil prices rebound significantly, Shell’s 8.6% dividend yield does not seem sustainable for too much longer.

Massive outflows

Like its bigger rival Aberdeen Asset Management, Ashmore Group is suffering from massive fund outflows as investors cash out of investments in emerging markets. Assets under management have fallen 22.4% over the past year, as a result of a combination of investor outflows and declining asset values.

Net outflows have slowed recently, but there a few signs that a reversal will be soon be due. Fundamentals in emerging markets are beginning to look more attractive but investors are maintaining a cautious stance in fear of further interest rate hikes in the US and the constant stream of disappointing economic data.

With assets under management being regarded as an important indicator of future profits in the business, Ashmore’s long term earnings outlook is unimpressive. Analysts expect Ashmore will see earnings fall 23% in this year, and this should mean dividend cover is expected to decline to 0.9x. With earnings unable to cover dividends, Ashmore’s 7.7% dividend yield is at great risk.

Well positioned

MedicX Fund seems like a better buy. The closed-ended investment company focusses on primary healthcare properties (mostly GP practices and pharmacies), and thus benefits from the non-cyclical nature of the healthcare sector.

Shares in the fund currently trade at a 21% premium to its net asset value, which was valued at 70.8p per share at the end of 2015. The fund’s premium may seem expensive, but it is actually lower than the 12-month historical premium of 34%. Still, pessimists would argue that the commercial property sector in the UK is nearing its peak and risks of a cyclical downturn could mean the premium may erode further.

Whilst there are some signs of overheating in the property markets, there are many reasons to be optimistic. The fund is somewhat shielded from any potential downturn, as almost 90% of rental income comes from NHS reimbursable sources and a growing proportion of tenancies have inflation-linked rent review clauses. What’s more, robust growth in healthcare demand and slow supply growth should mean it is well positioned to gain from steadily rising rental income and capital growth.

The fund currently pays a quarterly dividend of 1.475p per share, giving it a 6.9% dividend yield and an underlying dividend cover of 68.0%.

The post Should You Be Tempted By Yields At Royal Dutch Shell plc (8.6%), Ashmore Group plc (7.7%) & Medicx Fund Ltd. (6.9%)? appeared first on The Twelfth Magpie.

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Jack Tang has no position in any shares mentioned. The Motley Fool UK has recommended Royal Dutch Shell B. We Fools don't all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors.