At 24/7 Wall St., we have followed dividend-paying stocks closely for over 15 years. With a growing audience of savvy baby boomers and retirees searching for safe income ideas that deliver more than the 10-year Treasury bonds’ 4.55% bi-annual dividend, we have closely screened hundreds of stocks looking for recurring, dependable dividend payouts and a degree of safety that allows for a good night’s sleep.

Government bonds offer investment security as the full faith and credit of the U.S. government backs them. However, they only pay interest twice a year, which does not help with paying the bills that are due every month. Quality dividend stocks offer quarterly and sometimes even monthly dividend payments, and we found three that retirees can buy with confidence. They all pay at least a 6% dividend yield.

Why do we cover dividend stocks?

Since 1926, dividends have contributed approximately 32% of the total return for the S&P 500, while capital appreciations have contributed 68%. Therefore, sustainable dividend income and capital appreciation potential are essential for total return expectations.

Enterprise Products Partners

This company is one of the largest publicly traded energy partnerships and pays a 6.36% dividend. Enterprise Products Partners L.P. (NYSE: EPD) provides various midstream energy services, including:

• Gathering
• Processing
• Transporting and storing natural gas, natural gas liquids (NGL) fractionation
• Import and export terminalling
• Offshore production platform services

The company has four reportable business segments:

• Natural Gas Pipelines and Services
• NGL Pipelines and Services
• Petrochemical Services
• Crude Oil Pipelines and Services

Many top Wall Street analysts may like the stock because of its distribution coverage ratio, which is well above 1x. This makes the company relatively less risky in the MLP sector.

Pfizer

This top pharmaceutical stock was a massive winner in the COVID-19 vaccine sweepstakes but has been beaten down over the last three years as many are not getting boosters. Pfizer Inc. (NYSE: PFE) discovers, develops, manufactures, markets, distributes, and sells biopharmaceutical products worldwide and pays a hefty 6.51% dividend, which has risen yearly for the last 14 years.

The company offers medicines and vaccines in various therapeutic areas, including:

• Cardiovascular metabolic and women’s health under the Premarin family and Eliquis brands
• Biologics, small molecules, immunotherapies, and biosimilars under the Ibrance, Xtandi, Sutent, Inlyta, Retacrit, Lorbrena, and Braftovi brands
• Sterile injectable and anti-infective medicines and oral COVID-19 treatment under the Sulperazon, Medrol, Zavicefta, Zithromax, Vfend, Panzyga, and Paxlovid brands

Pfizer also provides medicines and vaccines in various therapeutic areas, such as:

• Pneumococcal disease, meningococcal disease, tick-borne encephalitis COVID-19 under the Comirnaty/BNT162b2, Nimenrix, FSME/IMMUN-TicoVac, Trumenba, and the Prevnar family brands
• Biosimilars for chronic immune and inflammatory diseases under the Xeljanz, Enbrel, Inflectra, Eucrisa/Staquis, and Cibinqo brands
• Amyloidosis, hemophilia, and endocrine diseases under the Vyndaqel/Vyndamax, BeneFIX, and Genotropin brands

Trading not far from its lowest split-adjusted level in 13 years, the stock is an incredible bargain at current levels and pays a massive dividend.

The pharmaceutical giant recently reaffirmed its full-year 2024 revenue guidance to $61 to $64 billion and has the same guidance for 2025. Patient investors will receive one of the highest blue-chip dividends, and shares trade at a reasonable 9.88 times estimated 2025 earnings.

Verizon

This top telecommunications company offers tremendous value, trading at 9.5 times estimated 2025 earnings and paying investors a strong 6.92% dividend. Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE: VZ), through its subsidiaries, provides communications, technology, information, and entertainment products and services to consumers, businesses, and governmental entities worldwide.

It operates in two segments:

• Verizon Consumer Group
• Verizon Business Group

The Consumer segment provides wireless services across the wireless networks in the United States under the Verizon and TracFone brands and through wholesale and other arrangements.

Verizon also provides fixed wireless access (FWA) broadband through its wireless networks and related equipment and devices, such as:

• Smartphones
• Tablets
• Smartwatches and other wireless-enabled connected devices

The segment also offers wireline services in the Mid-Atlantic, including the District of Columbia and the northeastern United States, through its fiber-optic network, Verizon Fios product portfolio, and copper-based network.

The Business segment provides wireless and wireline communications services and products, including:

• FWA broadband
• Data
• Video and conferencing
• Corporate networking
• Security and managed network
• Local and long-distance voice
• Network access services to deliver various IoT services and products to businesses, government customers, and wireless and wireline carriers in the United States and internationally

Four High-Yield Stocks With 7% and Higher Dividends Are 2025 Home Runs

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