Why Crown Castle International Is the Valentine's Day Gift That Keeps on Giving

Real estate investment trusts (REITs) don't typically garner many headlines, like all great relationships, owning stock in the industry's top performers can be quite fulfilling for the long term, paying dividends along the way and providing a decent chance for share-price gains should you choose to cash out.

Consider, for example, Crown Castle International (NYSE: CCI). One of the country's largest owners of mobile towers went public in 1998 and became a REIT in 2014. Since that transition, which required it to begin paying out at least 90% of its taxable income to shareholders, this highly liquid real estate investment has bested the S&P 500 in total return, 223.1% to 190.3%. Here's why investors looking for a long-term relationship instead of a day trading fling may want to consider it adding it to their portfolio today.