If you invested $1,000 in real estate stocks 5 years ago, how much would you have today?

Investors looking for passive income tend to favor real estate investment trusts (REITs) because they often offer high and reliable dividend yields, and REITs can be expensive to pay out because they’re required to pay out 90% of their earnings as dividends.

Real estate income (oh -0.25%) is one of the best stocks to buy. It is a retail REIT and rents out properties to some of the most stable consumer staples retailers, so it has a steady stream of rental income and dividends. It also has the unusual feature of paying a monthly dividend, which makes it even more attractive to some investors. The latest monthly dividend for this stock is $.0.2625 The expected yield per share is approximately 5.7%.

See how much money you would have today if you had invested $1,000 five years ago.

The magic is in the dividends

Companies that pay dividends are usually past their high-growth stage. Investors are not expecting big gains from the stock itself. Broadly speaking, the higher the dividend yield, the lower the expectations for the stock price to rise.

Realty Income’s stock price is down 4% this year. Because yields are inversely related to price, as Realty Income’s stock price has fallen, its yield has risen. At the current stock price, the yield is 5.7%. quartet of S&P 500 average.

If you invested $1,000 in Realty Income stock five years ago and reinvested the dividends, you’d have $1,040 today. That includes an 18% drop in the stock price. In a high interest rate environment, the market has not been kind to real estate stocks. Realty Income’s dividend itself has grown 16% over the past five years.

The stock is popular with dividend investors due to Realty Income’s rock-solid stability: The company has paid monthly dividends for over 53 years and has increased its dividend every quarter 107 times in a row.

For passive income investors, Realty Income is a great option.