When you're building a diversified portfolio for long-term wealth, it sometimes can be easy to ignore dividend stocks in favor of high-powered growth names in the tech sector. After all, companies like Nvidia, Palantir Technologies, and Microsoft are some of the biggest players out there, and investors flock to them to lock in market-beating gains.
I love those stocks too. But I also know that it's important to have a well-rounded portfolio which includes value stocks that represent several different sectors. These value stocks provide stable earnings, solid returns, and often a sustainable dividend that pays you back for holding them.
I get a lot of my value stocks by holding exchange-traded funds (ETFs) because they provide instant diversification. But if you're looking to add some individual dividend stocks without breaking the bank, I'm suggesting CVS Health (CVS -0.18%), VeriSign (VRSN -1.06%), and PepsiCo (PEP 0.35%).
And you can pick up shares of each for less than $500 -- and still have some money left over.
Image source: Getty Images.
1. CVS Health
CVS Health is one of the biggest pharmacy and retail companies in the U.S. It operates more than 9,000 pharmacies, as well as more than 1,000 walk-in clinics. The stock is on a roll this year, up 33% in 2025, which is a massive turnaround following a disappointing 2024.
In addition, CVS is a health insurer through its 2018 purchase of Aetna, giving the company another valuable revenue stream. Its healthcare segment, which includes Aetna, saw revenue of $34.8 billion in the first quarter, up from $32.2 billion a year ago.
The company's health services segment, which includes its pharmacy benefits manager Caremark, also saw a strong quarter with revenue of $43.5 billion versus $40.3 billion the previous year. The third segment, pharmacy, saw revenue increase from $28.7 billion in Q1 2024 to $31.9 billion in Q1 2025.
CVS projects full-year guidance to include revenue of at least $382.6 billion and adjusted earnings per share of $6 to $6.20. The company offers a strong dividend yield of 4.5%, making it an appealing healthcare dividend stock to hold for the long term.
2. VeriSign
VeriSign is a tech company, but you may not have heard of it. However, the company plays an indispensable role in how the internet works, which makes it a great long-term play for income investors looking for a stable stock.
This company provides domain name registry services and internet infrastructure. In short, it is the exclusive registrar for websites that include the .com and .net suffix, and it provides processing services for many other domains as well.
VeriSign says it handles 428.1 billion domain name system queries each day. That gives it a massive competitive moat -- nobody is going to come around and take the business, so you can be assured that the company's going to be around and profitable for a long time. Revenue in the second quarter was $409.9 million, up nearly 6% from a year ago. Earnings were $2.21 per share, up from $2.01 per share last year.
The stock doesn't offer the biggest dividend -- currently, it's only about 1%. But considering the stability this company has, plus its market-beating 34% gain in 2025, I'll take it all day as a solid long-term dividend stock.
3. PepsiCo
PepsiCo is on this list because of its solid year-to-date performance, its dividend, and its role in the market. The company is a consumer staples stock, as it makes its namesake Pepsi soda, as well as Frito-Lay snacks, Quaker oatmeal, and Gatorade sports drinks, among other products. I'll also look for a solid consumer staples stock when I'm looking for stocks to hold for a long period because they tend to be more recession-proof than a consumer discretionary stock.
Currently, PepsiCo is off a bit, dropping 5% in 2025 although it's gained nearly 10% in the last month as the company unveiled a plan to cut costs and promote healthier snack options. Its revenue in the second quarter was a solid $22.5 billion, down from $22.7 billion a year ago. But its operating profit boomed to $4.04 billion, up from $1.78 billion, and EPS of $2.23 was much better than the $0.92 per share the company earned in the second quarter of 2024.
Pepsi may not be beating the market like CVS or VeriSign, but it's a stock that is showing signs of life. Coupled with a strong 4% dividend yield, PepsiCo is a very appealing dividend stock in the consumer staples sector.
