If I can put a silver lining on last week's market sell-off, it's that yields on dividend stocks moved higher as prices ticked lower. With the Federal Reserve publicly set on nudging rates lower, the opportunity to generate more income, rather than less, makes this a compelling time to consider high-yielding investments.
Coca-Cola (KO -0.43%) and Comcast (CMCSA -0.14%) are cutting substantial quarterly checks to their shareholders. They may not have scintillating growth prospects at the moment, but at today's prices, they offer long track records of sustainability, with a a healthy income bonus for patient investors. It's time to see why these are two dividend stocks to double up on right now.
1. Coca-Cola
If you're a fan of perpetually rising payouts, Coca-Cola is the real thing. The bellwether beverage stock's 5% slide over the past six months is pushing its yield above 3%, but Coca-Cola is also doing its part to keep its distributions effervescent. Earlier this year, it stretched its streak of payout hikes to 63 consecutive years. This makes it one of the market's 56 Dividend Kings, coming through with at least five decades of annual increases.
Soft-drink consumption trends have been sliding for the past two decades on concerns of the health effects of sugar and artificial sweeteners, but even that bearish narrative is starting to stabilize. In the meantime, Coca-Cola is also a player in beverage alternatives, including sparkling water, coffee, and tea.
Image source: Getty Images.
If you figure that Coca-Cola is slowly fading, you need to flip that false narrative around. With 200 brands and a presence in more than 200 countries and territories, Coca-Cola makes up any potential shortfalls in volume and variety. Revenue is rising for the fifth year in a row, and Wall Street pros see that top-line growth accelerating in 2026.
Coca-Cola isn't having a problem keeping up with the expectation that it will continue to cut larger dividend checks with every passing year. Can you say the same about your fixed-income portfolio?
The company's trailing payout ratio of 69% is more-than-enough breathing room. With analysts targeting an 8% increase in earnings per share next year on a 6% jump in revenue, dividend investors can make the most of the stock's flat trading to embark on a sparkling investment.
2. Comcast
Taking a step up on the yield ladder, Comcast is currently yielding 4.5%. The entertainment and connectivity giant has fallen out of favor with investors this year. The stock tumbled 5% in last week's sell-off, falling a brutal 28% over the past year.
The steady decline in the company's cable TV business is old hat, but now, even its once seemingly bulletproof broadband business is starting to ooze subscribers. This is important, as the two cash-cow businesses accounted for 64% of last year's revenue and a larger 83% chunk of its adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA).
Comcast isn't worried. Earlier this year, it stretched its run of rising payouts to 17 years, growing its distributions more than tenfold in that time.
This isn't the only way that Comcast is returning money to its shareholders. It put $8.6 billion of its healthy cash flow to work on stock buybacks last year.
Monday-morning quarterbacks will argue that the repurchases were a mistake, with the shares even lower today. I see it as Comcast flexing its money-making potential.
Comcast is also deploying money into areas to create an empire outside of cable TV and broadband. It keeps building out its NBC Universal content arm and opened an entirely new theme park this year.
The stock is trading for less than seven times this year's projected earnings. Bake in Comcast's sizable debt, and the company's earnings multiple is still just 12, based on enterprise value instead of market cap.
