Top 15 Dividend Paying REITs

Many income investors have looked to REITs (Real Estate Investment Trusts) as a source of dividends.<!--more--> REITs
are pass-through entities and to qualify for this status, they must pay
dividends equal to 90% or more of their taxable income. Because many REITs are now trading far below their 2007 highs, their yields appear very attractive. For
example, National Retail Properties (NNN) currently pays a 6.6%
dividend, while Realty Income Corporation (O) is paying 6.1% (the author is long O).

Since
many of these companies were started after The Tax Reform Act of 1986,
you won’t find them on S&P’s list of Dividend Aristocrats, which
requires 25 consecutive years of increasing dividends. But there are some great dividend-paying REITs out there. Before you dive in, though, you might want to check whether or not the company has a policy of growing its dividend. If
your dividends don’t grow at or above the rate of inflation, and you
plan to hold the shares indefinitely (as an income investor) you may be
losing ground financially.