Dividend stocks are a great way to generate income from your investments while still maintaining the potential for growth from increases in the underlying share price. However, dividends aren’t guaranteed and may be cut or eliminated altogether if a company’s financial outlook worsens.
Here are stocks with the highest dividend yields in the S&P 500.
Highest dividend stocks in the S&P 500
*Market data as of July 17, 2024.
1. Walgreens Boots Alliance (WBA)
Walgreens Boots Alliance operates retail pharmacies across the U.S., Europe and Asia. It generated $139.1 billion in sales during its fiscal 2023 and is one of the largest purchasers of prescription drugs and other health products in the world. The company has a dividend history that dates back to 1989, but slashed its dividend by 48 percent in early 2024 to conserve cash and improve its balance sheet.
- Dividend yield: 8.5 percent
- Annual dividend: $1.00
2. Altria Group (MO)
Altria Group owns a portfolio of tobacco products including Philip Morris USA. The company says it is focused on returning cash to shareholders while also moving adult smokers away from cigarettes over time.
- Dividend yield: 8.2 percent
- Annual dividend: $3.92
3. Verizon (VZ)
Verizon is a leader in communication and technology services. Along with AT&T and T-Mobile, they provide the majority of mobile-phone services in the U.S. Verizon generated about $134 billion in revenue in 2023.
- Dividend yield: 6.4 percent
- Annual dividend: $2.66
4. Crown Castle (CCI)
Crown Castle operates communications infrastructure such as towers, rooftops and fiber and generates revenue by leasing its assets to tenants. In 2023, T-Mobile, AT&T and Verizon accounted for about 75 percent of the company’s site rental revenues.
- Dividend yield: 6.0 percent
- Annual dividend: $6.26
5. AT&T (T)
AT&T is another telecommunications leader that generates solid cash flow for shareholders. Recently, the company has divested some assets and cut its dividend by nearly half as it focuses on 5G investments and paying down its heavy debt load.
- Dividend yield: 5.9 percent
- Annual dividend: $1.11
6. Bristol-Myers Squibb (BMY)
Bristol-Myers Squibb is a global pharmaceutical company that aims to discover, develop and deliver transformational medicines in the areas of oncology, hematology, immunology, cardiovascular and neuroscience. The company generated about $45 billion in total revenues in 2023.
- Dividend yield: 5.8 percent
- Annual dividend: $2.40
7. Pfizer (PFE)
Pfizer is a global pharmaceutical company that offers products that treat various cancers, vaccines against infectious diseases and a number of specialty care products. Its 2023 revenues fell more than 40 percent from 2022 to $58.5 billion due to significant declines in its Covid-19 vaccine and treatment products.
- Dividend yield: 5.7 percent
- Annual dividend: $1.68
8. Healthpeak Properties (DOC)
Healthpeak Properties invests in and manages real estate focused on healthcare discovery and delivery including labs, outpatient medical assets and continuing care retirement community assets. Healthpeak’s portfolio included 477 properties at the end of 2023, the majority of which were outpatient medical facilities.
- Dividend yield: 5.7 percent
- Annual dividend: $1.20
9. Kinder Morgan (KMI)
Kinder Morgan is one of the largest energy infrastructure companies in North America and its pipelines and terminals transport and store various commodities including crude oil and natural gas. The company owns an interest in or operates roughly 82,000 miles of pipelines.
- Dividend yield: 5.7 percent
- Annual dividend: $1.15
10. BXP Inc. (BXP)
BXP is one of the largest publicly-traded office REITs in the U.S. and primarily owns properties in six markets: Boston, Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco, Seattle and Washington, D.C. At the end of 2023, BXP owned or had joint ventures in 188 commercial real estate properties with 53.3 million in net rentable square feet.
- Dividend yield: 5.7 percent
- Annual dividend: $3.92
What is a dividend yield and what does it mean?
A dividend yield is a way to measure how much income a stock generates relative to its stock price. Calculating a dividend yield gives investors a way to compare yields across different companies, industries or even asset classes.
A dividend yield is calculated by dividing a company’s annual per share dividend by its current share price. For example, a company that paid an annual dividend of $1.00 per share would have a 5 percent dividend yield when its share price was $20.00.
Editorial Disclaimer: All investors are advised to conduct their own independent research into investment strategies before making an investment decision. In addition, investors are advised that past investment product performance is no guarantee of future price appreciation.
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