5 Strong Buy-Rated Dividend Stocks Are Among the S&P 500 Top Performers in 2025

Dividend stocks are a favorite among investors for good reason. They provide a steady stream of passive income and offer a promising avenue for total return. Total return, a comprehensive measure of investment performance, encompasses interest, capital gains, dividends, and distributions realized over time.

Here at 24/7 Wall St., we consistently emphasize the power of total return to our readers. This strategy can significantly boost your overall investing success. Total return is the combined increase in a stock’s value and the dividends it pays. History shows that dividend stocks tend to outperform over the long haul, and the list of the top 20 performing S&P 500 stocks for 2025 is loaded with some of our favorite dividend-paying companies.

After one of the wildest first halves in recent history, stock investors experienced a massive sell-off that began in February and did not conclude until early April, which pushed both the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq into or close to bear market territory. That was followed by a high-velocity rally that led both of the major indices and the Dow Jones Industrial Average back into positive territory and now back to all-time highs by the end of the second quarter.

We screened the S&P 500 to find the 20 top-performing stocks for the first half of 2025, and five of our favorite dividend stocks were in the winners’ circle. They included a top energy utility, a gold mining giant, a technology stock that is not one of the Magnificent 7, as well as a consumer staples giant that continues to rise on a huge hot streak, and a healthcare industry leader. All five are rated Buy at the top Wall Street firms that we cover.

Why do we cover dividend stocks?

Dividend stocks offer investors a reliable source of passive income. Passive income is characterized by its ability to generate revenue without requiring the earner’s continuous active effort, making it a desirable financial strategy for those seeking to diversify their income streams or achieve financial independence.

NRG Energy

This utility giant was the top stock in the S&P 500 for the first half of 2025, up a stunning total return of 81.8%. NRG Energy Inc. (NYSE: NRG) is an energy and home services company. The company’s businesses are the sale of electricity and natural gas to residential, commercial, industrial, and wholesale customers, supported by its wholesale electric generation, as well as the sale of smart home products and services across the United States and Canada.

The company delivers sustainable solutions, predominantly under brand names such as:

• NRG
• Reliant
• Direct Energy
• Green Mountain Energy
• Vivint

Its segments include Texas, East, West/Services/Other, Vivint Smart Home, and Corporate activities.

NRG Energy offers a range of products to residential and small commercial customers, including retail electricity and energy management services, natural gas, line and surge protection products, home protection services, repair and maintenance, and carbon offsets.

The utility owns and leases a diversified wholesale generation portfolio with approximately 13 gigawatts of fossil fuel and renewable generation capacity at 18 plants.

Barclays has an Overweight rating and a $197 target price.

Seagate Technology

While not in the Magnificent 7, this legacy technology giant posted a 66.1% total return mark in the first six months of 2025. Seagate Technology Holdings PLC (NASDAQ: STX) provides mass data storage infrastructure solutions. The Company’s principal products are hard disk drives, commonly referred to as disk drives, hard drives (HDDs).

In addition to HDDs, the company produces a range of data storage products, including:

• Solid state drives (SSDs)
• Solid state hybrid drives,
• Storage subsystems
• Scalable edge-to-cloud mass data platform

Its HDD products are designed for mass capacity storage and legacy markets. Mass capacity storage involves various use cases, including hyperscale data centers and public clouds, as well as emerging applications.

The company’s HDD and SSD product portfolio includes:

• Serial Advanced Technology Attachment
• Serial Attached SCSI
• Non-Volatile Memory Express-based designs to support a variety of mass capacity and legacy applications

Its systems portfolio includes storage subsystems for enterprises, cloud service providers, scale-out storage servers, and original equipment manufacturers.

Bank of America has a Buy rating with a $145 price objective.

Newmont

Newmont Corp. (NYSE: NEM) is the world’s largest gold mining entity, generating a total return of 54.1% in the first half. Newmont is a gold company that produces copper, zinc, lead, and silver.

Its portfolio of assets and prospects is anchored in mining jurisdictions in:

• Africa
• Australia
• Latin America & Caribbean
• North America
• Papua New Guinea

Its African operation is Ahafo.

The Australian operations include Boddington, Cadia, and Tanami.

The Latin America and Caribbean  operations include:

• Cerro Negro
• Merian
• Penasquito
• Pueblo Viejo JV
• Yanacocha

Its North American projects include:

• Brucejack
• Cripple Creek & Victor
• Eleonore
• Musselwhite
• Nevada Gold Mines JV
• Porcupine and Red Chris

Its Papua New Guinea projects include Lihir. The Ahafo mine is located in the Ahafo region, approximately 290 kilometers northwest of Accra, the national capital.

The Boddington mine operates within the Saddleback greenstone belt in Western Australia. Boddington is located 16 km from the rural farming town of Boddington and 130 km from Western Australia’s capital city.

Raymond James has a Buy rating with a $66 target.

Philip Morris

This global tobacco giant reported a substantial 52.9% total return for the first half of 2025. Philip Morris International Inc. (NYSE: PM) is an international tobacco company. The Company’s product portfolio primarily consists of cigarettes and smoke-free products.

Its smoke-free business (SFB) also includes wellness and healthcare products, as well as consumer accessories, such as lighters and matches.

The company’s segments include:

• Europe Region
• South and Southeast Asia
• Commonwealth of Independent States
• Middle East and Africa Region
• East Asia, Australia
• PMI Global Travel Retail
• Americas Region

The company’s brands include Marlboro, HEETS, IQOS, IQOS ILUMA, TEREA, VEEV, and ZYN.

Philip Morris International’s IQOS smoke-free product brand portfolio includes heated tobacco and nicotine-containing vapor products.

The international cigarette brands are:

• Chesterfield
• L&M
• Philip Morris

It also owns several local cigarette brands, including Dji Sam Soe and Sampoerna A in Indonesia, as well as Fortune and Jackpot in the Philippines.

Barclays has an Overweight rating with a Wall Street high target price of $220.

Cardinal Health

This Dividend Aristocrat is up a stellar 42.5% on a total return basis and is one of the healthcare-related stocks that have performed well this year. Cardinal Health Inc. (NYSE: CAH) is a global healthcare services and products company.

The company is engaged in providing customized solutions for:

• Hospitals
• Healthcare systems
• Pharmacies
• Ambulatory surgery centers
• Clinical laboratories
• Physician offices
• Patients in the home

The company also provides pharmaceuticals and medical products.

Cardinal Health segments include:

• Pharmaceutical and Specialty Solutions
• Global Medical Products and Distribution (GMPD)

The Pharmaceutical and Specialty Solutions segment distributes branded and generic pharmaceuticals, specialty pharmaceuticals, and over-the-counter healthcare and consumer products in the United States.

Its GMPD segment manufactures, sources, and distributes Cardinal Health-branded medical, surgical, and laboratory products sold in the United States, Canada, Europe, Asia, and other markets.

The company connects patients, providers, payers, pharmacists, and manufacturers for integrated care coordination.

Morgan Stanley has an Overweight rating on the shares with a $181 target price.

Five of the Safest Strong-Buy High-Yield Dividend Stocks Are On Sale Now

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