Investors love dividend stocks, especially those with high yields, because they provide a substantial income stream and offer significant total return potential. Total return includes interest, capital gains, dividends, and distributions realized over time. In other words, the total return on an investment or a portfolio consists of income and stock appreciation. At 24/7 Wall St., we consistently emphasize the potential of total return to our readers. It is one of the most effective ways to enhance the prospects of overall investing success. Once again, total return refers to the collective increase in a stock’s value, including dividends. Stocks that pay a dividend of 6% or higher, and offer years of growth and income, are the kind you can buy and forget about forever.
There are over 12,000 publicly traded stocks in the United States; not even the most intelligent investors with the best tools can find them all immediately. Many investors and traders typically maintain a small list of key stocks they follow when seeking capital gains or high-yield dividends. We decided to screen our 24/7 Wall St. high-yield database, looking for solid companies yielding at least 5% with solid dividend coverage. Five well-run companies hit our screens, and all look like timely buys now, and all five are rated Buy at the top Wall Street firms we cover.
Why do we cover high-yield dividend stocks?
At 24/7 Wall St., we have focused on dividend stocks for over 15 years because, despite the stock market’s ups and downs, many people face the reality of needing solid passive income streams to supplement their income from employment or other sources.
British American Tobacco
This British multinational company manufactures and sells cigarettes and other tobacco and nicotine products. European giant British American Tobacco PLC (NYSE: BTI | BTI Price Prediction) is a consumer-centric, multi-category consumer goods company that pays shareholders a huge, dependable dividend.
The company provides tobacco and nicotine products. Its segments include:
- United States
- Asia Pacific
- Middle East
- Africa
- The Americas
- Europe
The company’s product categories include:
- Vapor
- Tobacco Heating Products (THPs)
- Modern Oral, Traditional Oral, and Combustible cigarettes
Vapor products are handheld, battery-powered devices that heat a liquid (called an e-liquid) to produce an inhalable aerosol known as vapor. THPs are a new category of tobacco product designed to heat rather than burn tobacco.
Modern Oral products are smoke-free oral nicotine products, also known as nicotine pouches, designed for use in the mouth. Traditional oral products include snus and snuff.
British American Tobacco brands include:
- Vuse
- glo
- Velo
- Grizzly
- Dunhill
- Kent
- Lucky Strike
- Pall Mall
- Rothmans
- Newport
- Natural American Spirit
- Camel
- Vogue
- Viceroy
- Kool
- Peter Stuyvesant
- Craven A
- State Express 555
- Shuang Xi
BofA Securities has a Buy rating on the stock with a $52 target price.
Energy Transfer
Energy Transfer L.P. (NYSE: ET) is one of North America’s largest and most diversified midstream energy companies. This top master limited partnership is a safe option for investors seeking energy exposure and income, as the company pays a substantial distribution. Energy Transfer owns and operates one of the largest and most diversified portfolios of energy assets in the United States, with a strategic footprint in all of the major domestic production basins.
The company is a publicly traded limited partnership with core operations that include:
- Complementary natural gas midstream, intrastate, and interstate transportation and storage assets
- Crude oil, natural gas liquids (NGL), and refined product transportation and terminalling assets
- NGL fractionation
- Various acquisition and marketing assets
Following the acquisition of Enable Partners in December 2021, Energy Transfer owns and operates over 114,000 miles of pipelines and related assets in 41 states, spanning all major U.S. producing regions and markets. This further solidifies its leadership position in the midstream sector.
Through its ownership of Energy Transfer Operating, formerly known as Energy Transfer Partners, the company also owns Lake Charles LNG Company, the general partner interests, the incentive distribution rights, and 28.5 million standard units of Sunoco L.P. (NYSE: SUN), and the public partner interests and 39.7 million standard units of USA Compression Partners L.P. (NYSE: USAC).
J.P. Morgan has a Buy rating for the shares with a $23 target price.
Main Street Capital
Main Street Capital Corp. (NASDAQ: MAIN) has helped over 200 private companies grow or transition by providing flexible private equity and debt capital solutions. This company is a favorite across Wall Street and offers a substantial dividend. Main Street Capital is a private equity firm that provides equity capital to lower-middle market companies.
The firm also provides debt capital to middle-market companies for:
- Acquisitions
- Management buyouts
- Growth financings
- Recapitalizations
- Refinancing
The firm seeks to partner with entrepreneurs, business owners, and management teams, and generally provides “one-stop” financing alternatives within its lower middle-market portfolio.
Main Street Capital typically invests in lower-middle-market companies with annual revenues ranging from $10 million to $150 million.
The firm’s middle market debt investments are in businesses that are generally larger than its lower middle market portfolio companies. It also creates majority and minority equity.
RBC Capital has a Buy rating, but we could not confirm the target price.
Pfizer
Pfizer Inc. (NYSE: PFE) was established in 1849 in New York by two German entrepreneurs. This top pharmaceutical stock was a massive winner in the COVID-19 vaccine sweepstakes, but has been crushed over the last two years as many people have not received boosters. Pfizer discovers, develops, manufactures, markets, distributes, and sells biopharmaceutical products worldwide. It pays a dependable 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, and 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
Pfizer anticipates full-year 2025 revenues in the range of $61.0 to $64.0 billion. This includes the expectation that revenues from COVID-19 products in 2025 will be broadly consistent with those in 2024, after excluding approximately $1.2 billion of non-recurring revenue for Paxlovid in 2024.
Verizon
Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE: VZ), commonly known as Verizon, is an American multinational telecommunications company that continues to offer tremendous value. It trades at 9.13 times its estimated 2026 earnings and is up almost 10% in 2025. Verizon provides a range of communications, technology, information, and entertainment products and services to consumers, businesses, and government entities worldwide.
It operates in two segments:
- Verizon Consumer Group
- Verizon Business Group
- The Consumer segment provides wireless services across the United States through Verizon and TracFone networks, as well as through wholesale and other arrangements
It 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 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.
Oppenheimer has given the company an Outperform rating and a price target of $50.
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