The real estate investment trust (REIT) sector is known for offering investors a high level of dividend yield. That makes sense, since REITs were specifically designed to pass income on to shareholders via dividends.

But if you're looking for the most reliable dividend-paying REITs, you'll want to focus on Federal Realty (NYSE: FRT), Realty Income (NYSE: O), and Essex Property Trust (NYSE: ESS), all of which invest in different types of institutional real estate. Here's a primer on each.

Federal Realty's dividend yield is roughly 3.8%. That's well above the 1.2% that you'd collect from an S&P 500 index fund and about in line with the 3.9% average yield of REITs. But the big story here is that Federal Realty has increased its dividend for a huge 57 consecutive years. That makes this REIT a Dividend King. At this point, it's the only REIT to have achieved this status, which suggests you can own it and sleep soundly.

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Source Fool.com