Want an Easy Way to Make $10,000 in Passive Income? Buy This High-Yield Dividend Stock.

Your odds of making $10,000 by snagging a lottery ticket are slim. The same is true with going to the nearest casino.

But earning that amount of money without having to work for it isn't a futile dream. The secret is to have someone else put your money to work and pay you for the privilege. There's a simple method for doing this. Want an easy way to make $10,000 in passive income? Buy this high-yield dividend stock. 

A dividend dynamo

You could count the number of S&P 500 stocks with dividend yields of more than 7% on your fingers. And you could count the number of S&P 500 stocks with yields greater than 9% on your thumbs. Devon Energy (DVN -0.98%) is one of those two stocks.

In my view, Devon ranks as one of the best high-yield dividend stocks on the market right now. The oil and gas company currently offers an especially juicy dividend yield of nearly 9.3%. That's more than six times higher than the average S&P 500 stock's yield.

If you bought less than $107,800 worth of Devon stock, your total dividend payments over the next 12 months would be roughly $10,000. This assumes, of course, that Devon doesn't reduce its dividend payout. I don't expect that will happen.

Devon has paid a dividend for 29 consecutive years. The company clearly has a strong commitment to its dividend program.

However, Devon's dividend consists of two parts -- a fixed component and a variable component. The variable part is funded by excess free cash flow. Devon expects its free cash flow will jump around 75% year over year in 2022. With that optimistic outlook, it seems unlikely that the company's dividend payout will decline.

Going up

Devon could make you even more than $10,000 over the next year. Dividends are only part of the appeal of the stock. Devon has also delivered sizzling gains so far in 2022, with shares jumping nearly 30%.

Only a few weeks ago, Devon's share price was up more than 75% year to date. Is the recent decline a warning sign? I don't think so. There's a pretty good chance that the stock ends 2022 higher than it is now. 

Most energy stocks slid with increasing expectations that oil prices could fall. But it's important to remember that the European Union plans to ban around two-thirds of oil imports from Russia by the end of this year. This move could keep oil prices at higher levels.

Also, Devon's stock buybacks could boost its share price. The company's board of directors recently expanded its share repurchase program to $2 billion, which represents around 5% of outstanding shares.

Even with the impressive gains made since early last year, Devon's valuation remains attractive. Its shares trade at less than 7.4 times expected earnings. 

The big question

Devon Energy CEO Rick Muncrief said in the company's first-quarter conference call, "We believe it is still very early in this structural bull market." He was referring to the bull market for energy stocks. 

Muncrief's view could be spot on. However, the big question for Devon is: What happens after the current energy bull market plays out? 

The adoption of renewable energy sources is likely to increase significantly over the coming years. It's quite possible that stocks such as Devon again fall out of favor down the road. Devon's variable portion of its dividend could also decline at some point.

Perhaps this high-yield dividend stock won't always be an easy way to make $10,000 in passive income. But for now, Devon appears to be close to a slam-dunk.