3 Stocks That Pay You to Own Them

Dividends are a cash return on your investment in a stock -- effectively, companies are paying you to own their shares. Since you own part of the companies in which you are investing, and thus have a right to a portion of the earnings, it only makes sense that you should expect a piece of the action via a dividend payment.

Here are three companies that take returning cash to shareholders very seriously, and that also have sizable yields: ExxonMobil Corporation (NYSE: XOM), Duke Energy Corporation (NYSE: DUK), and W.P. Carey Inc. (NYSE: WPC).