High-Yield Dividend Portfolios Outperform: These Are Our 5 Favorite Stock Picks

Investors love dividend stocks, especially the high-yield variety, because they offer a significant income stream and have massive 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. Let’s take a closer look at the concept of total return. Imagine you purchase a stock at $20 that offers a 3% dividend. If the stock price rises to $22 within a year, your total return is 13%. This is calculated by adding the 10% increase in stock price to the 3% dividend.

History tells us that dividend payers boast an impressive track record of total returns over the long term. According to the data we sourced from a presentation that cited the French Data Library, dividend payers outperform nonpayers, and high yield is the best-performing income segment of the U.S. equity market going back to 1927. In addition, Merrill Lynch stated in a report on what dividend stocks can offer that there are several reasons why dividend-paying stocks can be beneficial:

• First, the passive income they provide can help investors meet liquidity needs.
• Second, dividend-focused investing has historically demonstrated the ability to lower volatility and buffer losses during market drawdowns.

Here are our five favorite high-yield dividend stocks with which you can start your portfolio.

Altria

This is one of the world’s largest producers and marketers of cigarettes and other tobacco-related products. This stock still offers value investors a great entry point, and Altria Group Inc. (NYSE: MO) manufactures and sells smokable and oral tobacco products in the United States through its subsidiaries.

The company provides cigarettes primarily under the Marlboro brand, as well as:

• Cigars and pipe tobacco, principally under the Black & Mild and Middleton brands
• Moist smokeless tobacco and snus products under the Copenhagen, Skoal, Red Seal, and Husky brands
• on! Oral nicotine pouches
• e-vapor products under the NJOY ACE brand

It sells its tobacco products primarily to wholesalers, including distributors and large retail organizations, such as chain stores.

Altria used to own over 10% of Anheuser-Busch InBev S.A. (NYSE: BUD), the world’s largest brewer. Last year, the company sold 35 million of its 197 million shares through a global secondary offering. That represents 18% of its holdings but still leaves 8% of the outstanding shares in its back pocket. Altria also announced a $2.4 billion stock repurchase plan partially funded by the sale.

Chevron

This American multinational energy corporation specializes in oil and gas. The integrated giant is a safer option for investors looking to position themselves in the energy sector. Chevron Corp. (NYSE: CVX) engages in integrated energy and chemicals operations worldwide through two segments.

The Upstream segment is involved in the following:

• Exploration, development, production, and transportation of crude oil and natural gas
• Processing, liquefaction, transportation, and regasification associated with liquefied natural gas
• Transportation of crude oil through pipelines
• Transportation, storage, and marketing of natural gas, as well as operating a gas-to-liquids plant

The Downstream segment engages in:

• Refining crude oil into petroleum product
• Marketing crude oil, refined products, and lubricants
• Manufacturing and marketing renewable fuels
• Transporting crude oil and advanced products by pipeline, marine vessel, motor equipment, and rail car
• Manufacturing and marketing of commodity petrochemicals, plastics for industrial uses, and fuel and lubricant additives

Chevron announced in fall of 2023 that it has entered into a definitive agreement with Hess Corp. (NYSE: HES) to acquire all of the outstanding shares of Hess in an all-stock transaction valued at $53 billion, or $171 per share based on Chevron’s closing price on October 20, 2023. Under the terms of the agreement, Hess shareholders will receive 1.0250 shares of Chevron for each Hess share. The transaction’s total enterprise value, including debt, is $60 billion, and is finally expected to close this summer.

Berkshire Hathaway owns 6.7% of Chevron’s outstanding stock with 118,610,534 shares, and the energy giant makes up 6.7% of the portfolio.

Kraft Heinz

Even in bad times, everybody has to eat, and this company always stands to benefit as a superstar in the consumer staples sector. Kraft Heinz Co. (NYSE: KHC) was formed via the merger of H.J. Heinz and Kraft Foods.

The company is a leading global food company with estimated annual revenues of $25 billion from well-known brands such as Kraft, Heinz, Oscar Meyer, and Maxwell House.

Kraft Heinz is North America’s third-largest food and beverage manufacturer. It derives 76% of its revenues from that market and 24% from the International segment.

The company’s additional brands include:

• ABC
• Capri Sun
• Classico
• Jell-O
• Kool-Aid
• Lunchables
• Ore-Ida
• Philadelphia
• Planters
• Plasmon
• Quero
• Weight Watchers
• Smart Ones
• Velveeta

Pfizer

This top pharmaceutical stock was a massive winner in the COVID-19 vaccine sweepstakes but has struggled over the past two years as many people are not getting boosters. Pfizer Inc. (NYSE: PFE) discovers, develops, manufactures, markets, distributes, and sells biopharmaceutical products worldwide.

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, 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

Goldman Sachs has a $32 price target for the shares. Pfizer recently increased its quarterly dividend to $0.43 per share, a 2.4% increase from the previous dividend of $0.42. This marks the company’s 345th consecutive quarterly dividend payment and 15th year of dividend growth.

Verizon

This top telecommunications stock offers tremendous value, trading at 8.75 times estimated 2025 earnings. Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE: VZ) provides communications, technology, information, and entertainment products and services to consumers, businesses, and governmental entities worldwide.

It operates in two segments:

• Verizon Consumer Group
• Verizon Business Group

The Consumer segment provides wireless services across the wireless networks in the United States under the Verizon and TracFone brands and 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.

Boomers Are Buying Five Safe Monthly Dividend Stocks Delivering Huge Passive Income

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