There's nothing wrong with wanting your investments to pay you as much money as possible, but you should be careful. Oftentimes, a stock with a high dividend yield signals increased risks that could mean severe losses if things don't work out.
But not every high-yield dividend stock comes with red flags. Some companies pay generous dividends but have the financials to back it up, and may even continue to increase their dividend year in and year out.
Don't worry, I did the homework for you.
Here are five stocks, each yielding at least 4.9%, that investors can buy and sleep well at night, and look forward to fat dividend checks that will keep coming throughout 2025 and beyond.
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1. Realty Income
Dividend yield: 5.7%
Real estate investment trusts like Realty Income (O -0.04%) are publicly traded companies that acquire properties and distribute their profits to investors as dividends. REITs marry the passive income of real estate with the convenience of owning stocks. Realty Income is one of the world's largest REITs; it specializes in single-tenant retail properties, with more than 15,000 properties across the United States and Europe.
Investors will love that Realty Income pays a monthly dividend, and it has increased that payout for 110 consecutive quarters. The only catch with Realty Income and other REITs is that they pay nonqualified dividends due to their corporate structure. Therefore, the U.S. will tax them as ordinary income. Realty Income's high starting yield and consistent dividend growth make the stock a fantastic and flexible investment that can pay your monthly bills. Or, you can reinvest the dividends to compound your income over time.
2. British American Tobacco
Dividend yield: 5.5%
Tobacco companies are famous for their dividends. British American Tobacco (BTI -0.73%) is one of the industry's giants, a global business that sells a mix of smokeable products like cigarettes and smoke-free products like nicotine pouches, electronic vapes, and heat-not-burn devices. British American Tobacco has raised its dividend over time, and it's well funded by the company's profits -- just 63% of its estimated 2025 earnings -- so investors can count on it.
The industry is transitioning from cigarettes to smoke-free products, so British American Tobacco's success in capturing these new market opportunities will make or break the company as a long-term investment. That said, its Velo brand of nicotine pouches is growing rapidly, and the company has a significant footprint in electronic vapes, so that dividend looks to be in good shape for a while.
3. Best Buy
Dividend yield: 5.8%
Retail is a ruthlessly competitive industry, but Best Buy (BBY -0.79%) has stood out as a niche electronics retailer. The business can be a bit shaky at times due to the discretionary nature of Best Buy's products, and electronics are primarily imported from foreign suppliers, so there could be tariff headwinds as well. That said, Best Buy is a well-managed company that has navigated the fluctuations, evidenced by its 21 consecutive years of annual dividend increases.
Speaking further to that, the current dividend is just 61% of 2025 earnings estimates, so the company can still handle some adversity. Consumer electronics aren't going away, and analysts anticipate mid-single-digit earnings growth moving forward, giving investors a nearly 6% dividend that should outgrow inflation for the foreseeable future.
4. Verizon Communications
Dividend yield: 6.3%
The U.S. wireless telecommunications industry only has three notable players. Verizon Communications (VZ -0.54%) is the largest, with more than 146 million subscribers. In modern America, practically everyone has smartphones and wearable devices. Verizon may not technically be a utility company, but people pay their phone bill about as faithfully as they do electric or gas at this point, making Verizon a recession-proof business you can expect to keep paying you.
Verizon has paid and raised its dividend for 21 consecutive years, and that streak will likely continue. The dividend is less than 60% of 2025 earnings estimates, and the amount of data traveling on wireless networks continues to rise. Verizon is a low-growth business, but the starting 6.3% yield is safe and represents sizable passive income from day one.
5. The Campbell's Company
Dividend yield: 4.9%
Most known for its famous soup brand, The Campbell's Company (CPB -1.66%) is far more than that now. The company is a leading food and snack conglomerate with a portfolio of brands that includes Campbell's, Campbell's Chunky, Rao's, Prego, Goldfish, Lance, Snyder's of Hanover, V8, Milano, and Pepperidge Farm. These are products consumers routinely buy at their neighborhood grocery store, representing a durable, recession-proof business that investors can count on.
Campbell's has dramatically remade its business to reduce its dependence on legacy soup sales. Management did increase Campbell's debt load and has frozen the dividend for stretches. That said, the future looks brighter. The dividend is just over half of 2025 earnings estimates, and management is targeting high-single-digit earnings growth over the long term. That should give Campbell's enough financial cushion to slowly pay down debt and sustain and raise a dividend that currently yields just under 5%.
