50 High-Dividend Stocks | How To Invest For High Yields

Published on March 25th, 2023 by Ben Reynolds

Spreadsheet data updated daily

High dividend stocks are stocks with a dividend yield well in excess of the market average dividend yield. In practice, a stock is considered to have a high dividend when its dividend yield is 3% or more at a minimum.

The S&P 500 currently has a dividend yield of just 1.7%. This means for a stock to have a high dividend, it must have a dividend yield at least 76% higher than the S&P 500’s current dividend yield.

Some stocks offer yields much higher than 3% This research report focuses on many truly high yielding securities, including:

#1: The High Dividend 50 Series
The High Dividend 50 Series is where we analyze the 50 highest-yielding securities in the Sure Analysis Research Database. The series consists of 50 stand-alone analysis reports on these securities.

#2: High-Yield Investing Resources
– How to calculate your income per month based on dividend yield
– The risks of high-yield investing
– Other high dividend research

#3: The High Dividend Stocks List Spreadsheet
The free high dividend stocks list spreadsheet has our full list of individual securities (stocks, REITs, MLPs, etc.) with with 5%+ dividend yields. There are currently more than 200 securities with 5%+ dividend yields in the spreadsheet.

Note: The spreadsheet uses the Wilshire 5000 as the universe of securities from which to select, plus a few additional securities we screen for with 5%+ dividend yields.

The High Dividend 50 Series

The High Dividend 50 Series is analysis on the 50 highest-yielding Sure Analysis Research Database stocks, excluding royalty trusts, BDCs, REITs, and MLPs.

An enormous amount of work goes into and analyzing the High Dividend 50. We cover more than 850 income securities every quarter in the Sure Analysis Research Database. This is real analysis done by our analyst team, not a quick computer screen.

“So I think it was just looking at different companies and I always thought if you looked at 10 companies, you’d find one that’s interesting, if you’d look at 20, you’d find two, or if you look at 100 you’ll find 10. The person that turns over the most rocks wins the game. I’ve also found this to be true in my personal investing.”
– Investing legend Peter Lynch

Click here to download a PDF report for just one of the 850+ income securities we cover in Sure Analysis to get an idea of the level of work that goes into finding compelling income investments for our readers.

Click on a company’s name or ticker to view the high dividend 50 series article for that company. A link to the specific Sure Analysis Research Database report page for each security is included as well.

1. Artisan Partners Asset Management (APAM) | [See newest Sure Analysis report]
2. Camping World Holdings (CWH) | [See newest Sure Analysis report]
3. Antero Midstream (AM) | [See newest Sure Analysis report]
4. Via Renewables (VIA) | [See newest Sure Analysis report]
5. Vector Group (VGR) | [See newest Sure Analysis report]
6. B&G Foods (BGS) | [See newest Sure Analysis report]
7. Altria Group (MO) | [See newest Sure Analysis report]
8. New York Community Bancorp (NYCB) | [See newest Sure Analysis report]
9. ONEOK Inc. (OKE) | [See newest Sure Analysis report]
10. Enviva Inc. (EVA) | [See newest Sure Analysis report]
11. Universal Corp. (UVV) | [See newest Sure Analysis report]
12. Western Union (WU) | [See newest Sure Analysis report]
13. Northwest Bancshares (NWBI) | [See newest Sure Analysis report]
14. Cogent Communications Holdings (CCOI) | [See newest Sure Analysis report]
15. Blackstone Group (BX) | [See newest Sure Analysis report]
16. Xerox Holdings (XRX) | [See newest Sure Analysis report]
17. Healthcare Services Group (HSCG) | [See newest Sure Analysis report]
18. Kronos Worldwide (KRO) | [See newest Sure Analysis report]
19. Kohl’s Corp. (KSS) | [See newest Sure Analysis report]
20. M.D.C. Holdings (MDC) | [See newest Sure Analysis report]
21. Medifast Inc. (MED) | [See newest Sure Analysis report]
22. Verizon Communications (VZ) | [See newest Sure Analysis report]
23. AT&T Inc. (T) | [See newest Sure Analysis report]
24. LyondellBasell Industries (LYB) | [See newest Sure Analysis report]
25. Big Lots (BIG) | [See newest Sure Analysis report]
26. Leggett & Platt (LEG) | [See newest Sure Analysis report]
27. TC Energy Corporation (TCP) | [See newest Sure Analysis report]
28. Dow Inc. (DOW) | [See newest Sure Analysis report]
29. PetMed Express (PETS) | [See newest Sure Analysis report]
30. Cracker Barrel Old Country Store (CBRL) | [See newest Sure Analysis report]
31. Manulife Financial (MFC) | [See newest Sure Analysis report]
32. Walgreens Boots Alliance (WBA) | [See newest Sure Analysis report]
33. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CM) | [See newest Sure Analysis report]
34. BCE Inc. (BCE) | [See newest Sure Analysis report]
35. Kinder Morgan (KMI) | [See newest Sure Analysis report]
36. Bank of Nova Scotia (BNS) | [See newest Sure Analysis report]
37. Fortitude Gold (FTCO) | [See newest Sure Analysis report]
38. Newell Brands (NWL) | [See newest Sure Analysis report]
39. Dow Inc. (DOW) | [See newest Sure Analysis report]
40. Emera Inc. (EMRAF) | [See newest Sure Analysis report]
41. Hanesbrands Inc. (HBI) | [See newest Sure Analysis report]
42. Telephone & Data Systems (TDS) | [See newest Sure Analysis report]
43. Williams Companies (WMB) | [See newest Sure Analysis report]
44. Intel Corp. (INTC) | [See newest Sure Analysis report]
45. 3M Company (MMM) | [See newest Sure Analysis report]
46. Algonquin Power & Utilities Corp. (AQN) | [See newest Sure Analysis report]
47. V.F. Corp. (VFC) | [See newest Sure Analysis report]
48. Enbridge Inc. (ENB) | [See newest Sure Analysis report]
49. TELUS Corporation (TRP) | [See newest Sure Analysis report]
50. Lincoln National (LNC) | [See newest Sure Analysis report]

High-Yield Investing Resources

How To Calculate Your Monthly Income Based On Dividend Yield

A common question for income investors is “how much money can I expect to receive per month from my investment?”

To find your monthly income, follow these steps:

1. Find your investment’s dividend yield
   Note: Dividend yield can be calculated as dividends per share divided by share price
2. Multiply it by the current value of your holding
   Note: If you haven’t yet invested, multiply dividend yield by the amount you plan to invest
3. Divide this number by 12 to find monthly income

To find the monthly income from your entire portfolio, repeat the above calculation for each of your holdings and add them together.

You can also use this formula backwards to find the dividend yield you need from your investments to make a certain amount of monthly dividend income.

The example below assumes you want to know what dividend yield you need on a $240,000 investment to generate $1,000/month in dividend income.

1. Multiply $1,000 by 12 to find annual income target of $12,000
2. Divide $12,000 by your investment amount of $240,000 to find your target yield of 5.0%

In practice most dividend stocks pay dividends quarterly, so you would actually receive 3x the monthly amount quarterly instead of receiving a payment every month. However, some stocks do actually pay monthly dividends. You can see our monthly dividend stocks list here.

The Risks Of High-Yield Investing

Investing in high-yield stocks is a great way to generate income. But it is not without risks.

First, stock prices fluctuate. Investors need to understand their risk tolerance before investing in high dividend stocks. Share price fluctuations means that your investment can (and almost certainly will) decline in value, at least temporarily (and possibly permanently) do to market volatility.

Second, businesses grow and decline. Investing in a stock gives you fractional ownership in the underlying business. Some businesses grow over time. These businesses are likely to pay higher dividends over time. The Dividend Champions are an excellent example of this; each has paid rising dividends for 25+ consecutive years.

What’s dangerous is when a business declines. Dividends are paid out of a company’s cash flows. If the business sees its cash flows decline, or worse is losing money, it may reduce or eliminate its dividend. Business decline is a real risk with high yield investing. Business declines often coincide with and or accelerate during recessions.

A company’s payout ratio gives a good gauge of how much ‘room’ a company has to pay its dividend. The payout ratio is calculated as dividends divided by income. The lower the payout ratio, the better, because dividends have more earnings coverage.

A company with a payout ratio over 100% is paying out more in dividends than it is making in profits, a long-term unsustainable situation. A company with a payout ratio of 50% is making double in income what it is paying out in dividends, so it has ‘room’ for earnings to decline significantly without reducing its dividend.

Third, management teams can change their dividend policies. Even if a company isn’t declining, the company’s management team may change priorities and reduce or eliminate its dividend. In practice, this typically occurs if a company has a high level of debt and wants to focus on debt reduction. But it could in theory happen to any dividend paying stock.

The risks of high yield investing can be reduced (but not eliminated) by investing in higher quality businesses in a diversified portfolio of 20 or more stocks. This reduces both business decline risk (by investing in high quality businesses) and the shock to your portfolio if any one stock does reduce or eliminate its dividend (through diversification).

Other High Dividend Research

For investors looking for more high yield research and ideas, please see below: