3 Top REIT Stocks to Buy in August

Great companies don't go on sale very often, but rising interest rates have put notable downward pressure on a number of well-run real estate investment trusts (REITs). If you are looking for reliable dividend stocks, it would be a mistake to not at least look at landlords like Federal Realty (NYSE: FRT), Realty Income (NYSE: O), and W.P. Carey (NYSE: WPC). All have impressive dividend histories and stocks that are off their 52-week highs by 10% or more. Here's a primer on each.

As a dividend investor, the first thing you'll probably want to know about Federal Realty is that it is a Dividend King. In fact, its 55 years' worth of annual dividend increases is the longest streak in the REIT sector. A company has to be consistently successful to create a record like that.