Realty Income (O +0.67%) is all about dividend income. The company calls itself The Monthly Dividend Company. Part of its corporate mission is to "deliver dependable monthly dividends that increase over time."
Here's how much dividend income you'd have collected if you bought 100 shares of the real estate investment trust (REIT) a decade ago.
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It would have cost about $5,163 to buy 100 shares of Realty Income at the end of 2015. At the time, the company paid a monthly dividend of around $0.19 per share ($2.29 annualized). As a result, you'd have collected $229.20 in dividends the first year of owning the shares. That's a 5.7% yield on your cost basis.
Realty Income has steadily raised its monthly dividend over the past decade. As of the end of 2025, the REIT has increased its payment by 41% overall. As a result, those same 100 shares would now generate $324 in annual dividend income, increasing the yield on your cost basis to 6.3%. Overall, you'd have earned a cumulative $3,030.90 in dividends over those 10 years. That's 59% of your original investment paid back in dividends. Meanwhile, the original 100 shares would have been worth $5,637 at the end of last year. That's a 9% increase on your original investment and a nearly 68% total return on your original investment (dividend income plus share price increase).
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The REIT's ability to grow its dividend has really paid off for investors over that period. Realty Income routinely invests in additional income-producing real estate, which steadily grows its income, supporting its rising dividend. With one of the best balance sheets in the sector and a multi-trillion-dollar total investable market opportunity, Realty Income's high-yielding dividend should continue rising. That makes it an ideal way to make passive income from real estate.
