Dividend stocks can be excellent long-term investments. Over the last 50 years, the average Dividend stock has outperformed the equal-weighed S 500 index, with the best total returns coming from dividend growers.

REITs tend to be great dividend growth stocks. Agree Realty (NYSE: ADC), Rexford Industrial Realty (NYSE: REXR), and Invitation Homes (NYSE: INVH) are among the many REITs with excellent records of steadily increasing their dividends. That makes them no-brainer buys for those who have a little bit of cash to put to work right now.

Agree Realty has increased its dividend at a 5.6% compound annual rate over the past decade. The retail REIT currently pays a monthly dividend that yields nearly 5%, several times above the S 500's 1.3% dividend yield. To put that into perspective, an investor can generate nearly $5 of annual dividend income for every $100 they invest into the REIT. That compares with a little over $1 in annual dividend income from an S 500 index fund.

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Source Fool.com