The stock market rebound has resulted in two things happening that aren't great for income investors. Dividend yields have gone down for many stocks. And valuations aren't nearly as attractive as they were a couple of months ago.
But income investors don't need to despair. There are still high-yield dividend stocks to be found that are bargains. Here are three that I think stand out as among the best picks right now.
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1. Brookfield Infrastructure Partners
Brookfield Infrastructure Partners' (BIP 2.82%) dividend currently yields more than 4.6%. The stock is still close to 12% off of its highs from earlier this year.
As has been the case with lots of stocks, concerns about the repercussions of the COVID-19 pandemic have weighted on Brookfield Infrastructure's share price. So have worries about low oil and natural gas prices. However, while these factors hurt the stock, the company's business has rocked along without being affected very much.
Brookfield Infrastructure owns a portfolio of infrastructure properties that is remarkably diversified both across industries and geographically. Its assets include cell towers, data centers, electricity transmission systems, pipelines, ports, railroads, and toll roads spread across five continents. Roughly 95% of its cash flow is regulated or contracted, largely insulating the company from temporary economic issues.
The company also has solid growth prospects thanks to its approach of selling off lower-performing assets to reinvest in assets that should perform better. Keep in mind, though, that Brookfield Infrastructure is a limited partnership, which can complicate your taxes. If this is problematic for you, the company's economically equivalent spin-off entity Brookfield Infrastructure Corporation (BIPC 0.84%) is a great alternative that offers an attractive dividend yield of nearly 4.4%.
2. Brookfield Renewable Partners
Another inexpensive dividend stock happens to be a sister company to Brookfield Intrastructure. Brookfield Renewable Partners (BEP 1.63%) offers a dividend yield of close to 4.5%. Its shares are around 15% below the high mark in February.
You probably guessed from the company's name that it focuses on renewable energy. Brookfield Renewable owns hydro, wind, solar, distributed generation, and electricity storage facilities. In total, the company has nearly 5,300 power generating facilities that can supply 19,300 megawatts of energy to 27 markets in 17 countries.
Brookfield Renewables' Q1 results weren't impacted much at all by the COVID-19 pandemic. Like its infrastructure-focused sibling, around 95% of the company's cash flow is contracted or regulated.
The company has multiple long-term growth drivers. Countries in North America and Europe continue to shift to renewable energy sources. In addition, the economies in developing nations are expanding, especially in Latin America and India.
3. Innovative Industrial Properties
Now for a high-yield bargain stock that isn't a member of the Brookfield family -- Innovative Industrial Partners (IIPR 0.28%). This stock boasts a dividend yield of 4.4%. And it's still roughly 13% lower than its highs from earlier this year.
IIP is the leading cannabis-focused real estate investment trust (REIT). It currently owns 56 medical cannabis properties in 15 states with a total of around 4.1 million rentable square feet. Nearly all of this space (99.2%) is leased out with a weighted-averaged remaining lease term of 16 years.
The company isn't fully shielded from the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. IIP temporarily deferred rent for three of its 21 tenants because of uncertainties about how the COVID-19 pandemic was affecting their businesses. However, total amount involved is only 3% of IIP's total annualized revenue, and IIP expects the tenants to resume paying rent (with prorated payments for the deferred rent) in July.
Delivering strong growth shouldn't be a problem for IIP. All the company needs to do is to continue its "rinse-and-repeat" model of buying properties then leasing them back to medical cannabis operators. With the medical cannabis markets expanding in several states and more states likely to legalize medical cannabis in the future, IIP will likely provide the biggest total returns of these three stocks over the next five years.
