Editor's note: This Data Dispatch is updated monthly. This analysis includes publicly traded real estate investment trusts covered by S&P Global Market Intelligence that are based in the U.S. or Canada and trade on the NYSE, Nasdaq, NYSE American, Toronto Stock Exchange or Toronto Venture Exchange.

Eight U.S.-based publicly traded equity real estate investment trusts announced increases to their regular dividend payments in September, according to data compiled by S&P Global Market Intelligence.

Casino-focused VICI Properties Inc. announced the biggest relative dividend growth of the month, raising its quarterly distribution by 8.3% to 39 cents per share on Sep. 8.

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The next highest dividend increase during the month was by diversified REIT Store Capital Corp., which boosted its quarterly payout by 6.5% to 41 cents per share.

Office REIT Kilroy Realty Corp. had the third-biggest dividend hike, increasing its quarterly dividend by 3.8% to 54 cents per share, followed by shopping center-focused Phillips Edison & Co. Inc., which raised its monthly dividend by 3.7% to 9.33 cents per share.

Four additional REITs announced dividend hikes during the month, including cannabis-oriented Innovative Industrial Properties Inc., communications REIT American Tower Corp., single-tenant retail REIT Realty Income Corp. and diversified REIT W. P. Carey Inc.

On the Canada side, shopping center-focused First Capital REIT was the sole REIT that announced a dividend hike in September, doubling its monthly distribution to 7.20 Canadian cents per share.

Dividend hikes by sector

The most recent dividend hikes have brought the year-to-date total to 83 for U.S. REITs, or about 51.6% of the entire U.S. REIT industry.

On a sector basis, 14 residential REITs in the U.S. have announced higher dividends year-to-date, or about 77.8% of all residential REITs.

In terms of the percentage of dividend increases relative to the sector's total, industrial REITs came in second, announcing eight dividend hikes year-to-date, or about 72.7% of the sector's total.

Meanwhile, the retail sector bagged the highest number of announced dividend gains year-to-date at 19 REITs, 11 of which were from the shopping center segment.

A total of nine Canadian REITs have announced dividend increases year-to-date, three of which came from the residential sector, another three from retail, and one each from the industrial, diversified and office segments.