Realty Income Corporation (O Quick QuoteO - Free Report) , a member of the S&P High Yield Dividend Aristocrats Index, announced a hike in common stock monthly cash dividend to 20.2 cents per share from the previous payment of 20.15 cents. The new dividend will be paid on Oct 17, 2016 to shareholders of record as of Oct 3, 2016. This latest hike is in sync with the San Diego, CA-based retail real estate investment trust’s (“REIT”) strategy of rewarding its shareholders on a consistent basis. This marks the 88th dividend raise by the company since it got listed on the NYSE in 1994.

Realty Income is a real estate company with in-house acquisition, leasing, financial underwriting, porfolio management and capital markets expertise. Since 1994, the company has offered 76 successive quarterly dividend increases with a compound average annual dividend growth rate of around 4.6%.

This hike amounts to annualized dividend payment of $2.424 per share, as compared with the previous sum of $2.418 per share. With this payment in October, the company will have made 555 consecutive monthly dividend payments and will pay more than $4.3 billion in dividends since 1969.
 

REALTY INCOME Price
 

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Currently, Realty Income carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).

Investors interested in the REIT sector can consider some better-ranked stocks like Alexandria Real Estate Equities, Inc. (ARE Quick QuoteARE - Free Report) , EPR Properties (EPR Quick QuoteEPR - Free Report) and Weingarten Realty Investors . All these stocks hold a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here..

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