5 High-Yield Stock Picks to Add to Your Dividend Portfolio
Key Takeaways
It might be prudent to make a point of collecting a little more cash in the near future, and worry a little less about growth.
Article Overview
Quick insights and key information
7 min read
Estimated completion
real estate
Article classification
July 20, 2025
06:50 AM
The Motley Fool
Original publisher
The re indicates that What caught my attention is Does the spect of economic uncertainty have you rethinking your portfolio
Perhaps you'd to collect a little more cash while the economic headwinds are blowing
It's not an unreasonable concern
Plenty of other investors are already thinking more defensively than they've felt they needed to in a while
To this end, here's a closer look at five high-yielding dividend stocks to consider adding to your portfolio sooner rather than later, until it's the worst is behind us
Image source: Getty Images
Verizon Communications Dividend yield: 6
In contrast, 2% Verizon Communications (VZ 0, in light of current trends. 05%) is, of course, one of the country's biggest wireless service viders, boasting well over 100 million paying customers who collectively handed over nearly $135 billion worth of revenue last year alone, considering recent developments
Of that, $18 billion was turned into net income, $11
Moreover, 25 billion of which was dished out to holders in the form of dividends, given the current landscape
That's in line with the company's long-term norms
There's an arguable downside here, in today's financial world
However, Or lack thereof
What the re reveals is well-saturated U (this bears monitoring)
Wireless market doesn't offer much in the way of upside potential above and beyond simple population growth
Verizon is finding some inroads within the institutional/private 5G communications space, but that's a highly competitive market (which is quite significant), considering recent developments
Furthermore, There's just not a ton of expansion to be added here either
Moreover, What Verizon may lack in growth potential, however, it more than makes up for in consistency and sheer payout
Nobody's interested in giving up their mobile phones, which supports a sizable forward-looking yield of 6. 2% that's based on a dividend that has now been raised for 18 consecutive years (remarkable data)
However, Realty Income Dividend yield: 5. 6% Realty Income (O -0. 21%) isn't a stock in the traditional sense
Rather, it's a real estate investment trust, or REIT
That just means it owns a portfolio of rent-bearing real estate (an important development)
REITs trade just ordinary stocks do, and pay dividends the same way that dividend stocks do, too
And Realty Income brings something else to the table that's pretty unique in addition to its sizable forward-looking yield of 5
That's a monthly dividend payment, as opposed to the quarterly cadence you'll get with most other dividend stocks
Nevertheless, Moreover, Realty Income's specialty is retailing real estate (which is quite significant)
In light of the so-called "retail apocalypse" that seems to never end, this focus seems a liability, in today's financial world
Additionally, Just take a step back and look at the bigger picture (which is quite significant)
While numbers from Coresight Re point out that 7,325 U
Stores were shuttered last year, 5,970 new stores were opened (or reopened) (quite telling)
Realty Income further narrows this gap by serving the strongest survivors in the (this bears monitoring)
Furthermore, Nevertheless, Its top tenants include 7-Eleven, Dollar General, Dollar Tree, and FedEx, just to name a few
Underscoring the quality caliber of its renters is the fact that its occupancy rate currently stands at an industry-beating 98
Moreover, Nevertheless, 5%, and only fell to 97, in this volatile climate
Meanwhile, 9% in COVID-crimped 2020, given the current landscape
This resilience is one of the reasons the REIT has been able to raise its payout annually for the past 30 consecutive years
SPDR Portfolio S&P 500 High Dividend ETF Dividend yield: 4 (remarkable data)
Additionally, 6% Speaking of dividend stocks that aren't actually stocks, add the SPDR Portfolio S&P 500 High Dividend ETF (SPYD 0 (an important development). 23%) to your watch list, if not to your portfolio, considering recent developments
An ETF (or exchange-traded fund) is a basket of stocks with a common characteristic
Nevertheless, However, In this instance, these tickers are all part of the S&P 500 High Dividend Index, which tracks the 80 highest-yielding names within the S&P 500
This tells us that se include Philip Morris, toymaker Hasbro, AT&T, and Ford Motor Company, for reference
None of these names has a great deal of growth firepower
All of them, however, are healthy dividend payers
Most of them also have a solid track record of dividend growth, even if it's not required for inclusion in the underlying index
Sure, you can bably find higher dividend yields than the one SPYD offers (an important development)
On the other hand, The aforementioned Realty Income and Verizon both boast bigger ones, for instance
Additionally, The SPDR Portfolio S&P 500 High Dividend ETF is still an incredibly simple way of achieving a well-diversified mix of dividend stocks though, with a little more potential for capital appreciation than Verizon or Realty Income offer
Pfizer Dividend yield: 6
Meanwhile, 9% It's no secret that drugmaker Pfizer (PFE -0. 50%) has underperformed since the wind-down of COVID-19, which up sales of its Paxlovid apved to treat the disease, in today's financial world
The company's top line has slipped from 2022's $100 billion to only $64 billion last year, for perspective, and analysts aren't looking for any sales growth this year or next either
That's the chief reason Pfizer s continue to flounder
If you can look just a little further down the road though, some new blockbuster drugs are in the works -- drugs vepdegestrant, for the treatment of ER+/HER2- metastatic breast cancer (something worth watching)
While it will be competing with plenty of other therapies in this same space, it's noteworthy that the FDA fast-tracked this drug, which is being co-developed with Arvinas
On the other hand, And that's just one
Pfizer got a total of four mising oncology drugs with its 2023 acquisition of Seagen, and now has over 100 clinical trials underway, 30 of which are in phase 3 (late-stage) testing
Indeed, the company believes it's got eight oncology candidates in its developmental pipeline that could become blockbusters by 2030
Moreover, Little of this long-term upside is being reflected in the stock's present price, however, even though it arguably should be (this bears monitoring), given the current landscape
More to the point for interested income investors, this pharmaceutical stock's weakness has pushed its forward-looking dividend yield up to nearly 7% at a point where the pharma giant is on the verge of significant longed revenue and fit growth
Global X Nasdaq 100 Covered Call ETF Dividend yield: 14% Finally, consider adding a stake in the Global X Nasdaq 100 Covered Call ETF (QYLD 0. 24%) to your dividend portfolio
What the data shows is 's not a stock
Conversely, It's an exchange-traded fund (this bears monitoring)
And an unusual one at that
While it holds the same tickers that make up the -heavy Nasdaq-100 index, serving as an index fund isn't its primary purpose (quite telling), in today's market environment
Rather, this ETF's purpose is to generate reliable income that's regularly distributed to holders by selling covered calls against the ETF's stock holdings
The analysis reveals 's an income-generating cess called "buy-write," in fact -- you're buying a stock, and then "writing" (or selling) call options on those s, essentially using them as collateral
At the same time, Although the income generated by writing covered calls over and over again can be erratic (don't count on that trailing 14% yield going forward), the resulting reliable yields are typically big even if they're not precisely predictable
This analysis suggests that re's also a big downside, though, considering recent developments
Moreover, That's, this fund is almost certainly guaranteed to underperform the Nasdaq-100 itself, even after factoring in all of its sizable dividend payments
Additionally, That's just the nature of selling covered calls -- the strategy doesn't let you fully participate when the market's rallying the most
Writing options is just a means of monetizing stock holdings when they're mostly moving sideways, or losing ground
Still, with a double-digit yield, even only capturing a portion of the Nasdaq-100's long-term upside isn't a bad bet, in light of current trends
Nevertheless, It's just arguably not the only dividend-paying investment you'd want to own at any given time, mostly due to its inconsistent payments.
Related Articles
More insights from FinancialBooklet