24/7 Insights

• Quality dividend stocks can pay investors dependable streams of passive income.
• One of the best stock investment strategies is to buy and hold quality dividend-paying companies.
• Check out our free new report: Access 2 legendary, high-yield dividend stocks Wall Street loves.

Dividends have played a significant role in the S&P 500’s total return since 1926, contributing approximately 32%, while capital appreciations have contributed 68%. This data underscores the importance of sustainable dividend income and capital appreciation potential in shaping total return expectations.

A study from the Hartford Funds, in collaboration with Ned Davis Research, found that dividend stocks, with their impressive historical performance, delivered an annualized return of 9.18% over the past half-century (1973-2023). Over the same timeline, this was more than double the annualized return for non-payers (3.95%).

Investors looking for investment home runs need to be patient and stay with a company with a bright future and a technology or service that will remain in demand for years. We screened our 24/7 Wall Street dividend stock research database, looking for companies that offer investors those qualities. Three top stocks with promising futures look like incredible long-term holds, and all have a massive runway for success between now and 2030.

Dell Technologies

The company that revolutionized the PC and laptop business may now be poised to be an integral part of the artificial intelligence revolution. It pays investors a 1.37% dividend. Dell Technologies Inc. (NYSE; DELL)  designs, develops, manufactures, markets, sells, and supports various comprehensive and integrated solutions, products, and services in the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, Asia, and internationally.

The company operates through two segments:

• Infrastructure Solutions Group (ISG) 
• Client Solutions Group (CSG)

The ISG segment provides modern and traditional storage solutions, including:

• All-flash arrays
• Scale-out file
• Object platforms
• Hyper-converged infrastructure
• Software-defined storage
• General-purpose and AI-optimized servers

This segment also offers networking products and services comprising wide area network infrastructure, data center and edge networking switches, and cables and optics that help its business customers to transform and modernize their infrastructure, mobilize and enrich end-user experiences, and accelerate business applications and processes; software and peripherals; and consulting, support, and deployment services.

The CSG segment provides:

• Desktops
• Workstations, and notebooks
• Displays
• Docking stations
• Keyboards
• Mice
• Webcam
• Audio devices
• Third-party software and peripherals, as well as configuration, support and deployment, and extended warranty services

It is involved in cybersecurity technology-driven security solutions to prevent security breaches, detect malicious activity, respond rapidly when a security breach occurs, and identify emerging threats; originating, collecting, and servicing customer financing arrangements; and the resale of VMware products and services.

The company serves enterprises, public institutions, and small and medium-sized businesses through its direct sales channel, value-added resellers, system integrators, distributors, and retailers. 

Digital Realty Trust

An industry leader and probably the best pure-play data center stock for AI exposure, Digital Realty Trust Inc. (NYSE: DLR) pays a hefty 3.33% dividend. It brings companies and data together by delivering the full spectrum of data center, colocation, and interconnection solutions.

PlatformDIGITAL, the company’s global data center platform, provides customers with a secure data meeting place and a proven Pervasive Datacenter Architecture (PDx) solution methodology for powering innovation and efficiently managing Data Gravity challenges.

 Digital Realty gives its customers access to the connected data communities that matter to them. It has a global data center footprint of over 300 facilities in 50 metro areas across 25 countries on six continents.

 The company recently announced via press release:

Digital Realty has commenced construction of its third data center at its NRT campus in Inzai, Chiba Prefecture, in Japan. Utililizing PlatformDIGITAL the facility is expected to open in December 2025 and will significantly increase availability of state-of-the-art AI-ready infrastructure capacity in Japan. This announcement follows the recent launch of NRT12 on the same campus, solidifying Digital Realty’s commitment to providing customers with best-in-class data center solutions in Japan.

Exelon

This top utility stock may hit the jackpot serving data centers and pay investors a massive 4.20% dividend. Exelon Corp. (NASDAQ: EXC), a utility services holding company, engages in energy distribution and transmission businesses in the United States and Canada.

The company is involved in the purchase and regulated retail sale of electricity and natural gas, transmission and distribution of electricity, and distribution of natural gas to retail customers.

It also offers support services, including legal, human resources, information technology, supply management, financial, engineering, customer operations, transmission and distribution planning, asset management, system operations, and power procurement services.

It serves:

• Distribution utilities
• Municipalities
• Financial institutions
• Commercial, industrial, governmental, and residential customers

Exelon owns and operates Potomac Electric Power Company, or PEPCO, which serves the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area. Eight of the biggest data centers in the nation are located in this area. Data centers consume an enormous amount of electricity, and that demand is expected to increase exponentially over the next 20 years. 

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