At 24/7 Wall St., we have closely followed dividend-paying stocks for over 15 years. With a growing audience of savvy Baby Boomers and retirees seeking safe income ideas that deliver more than the 3.97% bi-annual dividend of the 10-year Treasury bond on a total return basis, we have screened hundreds of stocks. We are looking for recurring, dependable dividend payouts and a degree of safety that allows for a good night’s sleep. Choosing just five quality dividend stocks for life requires balancing stability, growth potential, diversification, and dividend reliability. The good news for income investors looking for safe and reliable dividend-paying stocks is that we found five you can buy now and hold forever.
The five top companies are the bedrock and pinnacle for dividend investors. All are the kind of stocks that growth and income investors can buy now, tomorrow, next week, or next year and hold for forever. All are rated Buy at top Wall Street firms that we cover here at 24/7 Wall St.
Why do we cover quality dividend stocks?
Since 1926, dividends have contributed approximately 32% of the total return for the S&P 500, while capital appreciation has contributed 68%. Therefore, sustainable dividend income and capital appreciation potential are essential for total return expectations. A study by Hartford Funds, in collaboration with Ned Davis Research, found that dividend stocks delivered an annualized return of 9.18% over the past 50 years (1973-2023). Over the same timeline, this was more than double the annualized return for non-payers (3.95%).
AbbVie
AbbVie is ranked sixth among the largest biomedical companies by revenue. This stock is one of the top pharmaceutical stock picks on Wall Street and is an excellent choice for long-term, forever ownership with a reliable 2.84% dividend. AbbVie Inc. (NYSE: ABBV | ABBV Price Prediction) discovers, develops, manufactures, and sells pharmaceuticals worldwide.
The company offers:
- Humira, an injection for autoimmune and intestinal Behçet’s diseases and pyoderma gangrenosum
- Skyrizi to treat moderate to severe plaque psoriasis, psoriatic disease, and Crohn’s disease
- Rinvoq to treat rheumatoid and psoriatic arthritis, ankylosing spondylitis, atopic dermatitis, axial spondyloarthropathy, ulcerative colitis, and Crohn’s disease
Imbruvica for the treatment of adult patients with blood cancers; Epkinly to treat lymphoma - Elahere to treat cancer
- Venclexta/Venclyxto to treat blood cancers.
It also provides:
- Facial injectables, plastics and regenerative medicine, body contouring, and skin care products
- Duopa and Duodopa to treat advanced Parkinson’s disease
- Ubrelvy for the acute treatment of migraine in adults
- Qulipta for episodic and chronic migraine
- Botox therapeuticraylar for depressive disorder
In addition, the company offers Ozurdex for eye diseases, as well as Lumigan/Ganfort and Alphagan/Combigan for reducing elevated intraocular pressure in patients with open-angle glaucoma or ocular hypertension. The company also offers Restasis to increase tear production, along with other eye care products.
Further, it provides:
- Mavyret/Maviret to treat chronic hepatitis C virus genotype 1-6 infection
- Creon, a pancreatic enzyme therapy
- Lupron to treat advanced prostate cancer, endometriosis, and central precocious puberty, and patients with anemia caused by uterine fibroids
- Linzess/Constella to treat irritable bowel syndrome with constipation and chronic idiopathic constipation
- Synthroid for hypothyroidism
Piper Sandler has an Overweight rating on the shares with a big $284 target price.
Dominion Energy
Dominion Energy is an integrated energy utility. It offers electricity, natural gas, and related services. Many of the Wall Street firms we cover are very positive on utilities, and this company pays a strong 4.34% dividend.
Dominion Energy, Inc. (NYSE: D) operates through four segments:
- Dominion Energy Virginia,
- Gas Distribution,
- Dominion Energy South Carolina, and
- Contracted Assets.
The Dominion Energy Virginia segment generates, transmits, and distributes regulated electricity to residential, commercial, industrial, and governmental customers in Virginia and North Carolina.
The Gas Distribution segment engages in
- Regulated natural gas gathering
- Transportation
- Distribution and sales activities
- Distributes nonregulated renewable natural gas
This segment serves residential, commercial, and industrial customers.
The Dominion Energy South Carolina segment:
- Generates
- Transmits
- Distributes electricity and natural gas to residential, commercial, and industrial customers in South Carolina.
The company’s portfolio of assets included approximately:
- 30.2 gigawatts of electric generating capacity
- 10,500 miles of electric transmission lines
- 85,600 miles of electric distribution lines
- 94,200 miles of gas distribution lines
- Dominion serves approximately 7 million customers
Barclays has an Overweight rating with a $63 target price objective.
PepsiCo
This top consumer staples stock reported solid second-quarter earnings and will continue to supply all the goods for football tailgates and parties. Trading at 18 times forward earnings with massive cash flow and a 3.62% dividend, this is a solid idea now. PepsiCo, Inc. (NYSE: PEP) is a worldwide food and beverage company. Activist investor Elliott Investment Management recently took a $4 billion stake in PepsiCo, revealing a strategy to unlock value within the company’s iconic brand by focusing on core strengths, such as innovation and brand marketing, rather than its capital-intensive bottling operations. This move caused PepsiCo’s stock to surge, with Elliott believing the company could see over 50% upside if its proposed strategic changes were implemented. However, these changes would involve a very long-term transformation.
Its Frito-Lay North America segment offers:
- Lays and Ruffles potato chips
- Doritos, Tostitos, and Santitas tortilla chips
- Cheetos cheese-flavored snacks, branded dips
- Fritos corn chips
The company’s Quaker Foods North America segment provides:
- Quaker Oatmeal
- Grits
- Rice cakes
- Natural granola and oat squares
- Pearl Milling mixes and syrups
- Quaker Chewy granola bars
- Cap’n Crunch cereal
- Life cereal
- Rice-A-Roni side dishes
Pepsico’s North America Beverages segment offers beverage concentrates, fountain syrups, and finished goods under these brands:
- Pepsi
- Gatorade
- Mountain Dew
- Diet Pepsi
- Aquafina
- Diet Mountain Dew
- Tropicana Pure Premium
- Sierra Mist
- Mug brands
Goldman Sachs has a Buy rating with a $167 target price.
Procter & Gamble
Procter & Gamble was founded more than 185 years ago as a soap and candle company. It has paid dividends to shareholders since 1891 and has raised them for 70 straight years, with the current yield at 2.74%. Procter & Gamble (NYSE: PG) is focused on providing branded consumer packaged goods to consumers worldwide.
The Company’s segments include:
- Beauty
- Grooming
- Health Care
- Fabric & Home Care
- Baby
- Feminine & Family Care
The Company’s products are sold in approximately 180 countries and territories primarily through mass merchandisers, e-commerce, including social commerce channels, grocery stores, membership club stores, drug stores, department stores, distributors, wholesalers, specialty beauty stores, including airport duty-free stores, high-frequency stores, pharmacies, electronics stores, and professional channels.
It also sells directly to individual consumers. It has operations in approximately 70 countries.
Procter & Gamble offers products under these brands and others, such as:
- Head & Shoulders
- Herbal Essences
- Pantene
- Rejoice
- Olay,
- Old Spice
- Safeguard
- Secret
- SK-II
- Braun
- Gillette
- Venus
- Crest
- Oral-B
- Ariel
- Downy
- Gain
- Tide
- Always
- Always Discreet
- Tampax
- Bounty
UBS has a Buy rating with a $176 target.
Realty Income
Realty Income is a real estate investment trust that invests in free-standing, single-tenant commercial properties. This is an ideal stock for growth and income investors seeking a safer, contrarian investment for the remainder of 2025 and forever, with a 5.43% dividend paid monthly. Realty Income Corporation (NYSE: O) is an S&P 500 company that provides stockholders with dependable monthly income.
The company acquires and manages freestanding commercial properties that generate rental revenue under long-term net lease agreements with its commercial clients.
It is engaged in a single business activity: leasing property to clients, generally on a net basis. This business activity spans various geographic boundaries and encompasses a range of property types and clients across multiple industries.
The Company owns or holds interests in approximately 15,621 properties in:
- All 50 United States
- The United Kingdom
- France
- Germany
- Ireland
- Italy
- Portugal
- Spain
With clients doing business in 89 industries, its property types include: retail, industrial, gaming, and others, such as agriculture and office.
Its primary industry concentrations include:
- Grocery stores
- Convenience stores
- Dollar stores
- Drug stores
- Home improvement stores
- Restaurants
- Quick service
UBS has a Buy rating with a $66 target price objective.
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