High-yield stocks can help you derive more income from your diversified investment portfolio. The key is to know how to balance risk and reward when choosing among them.
The best dividend stocks offer a wealth-building combination of relative safety and growth potential. You can sleep well at night while you own them, and you can expect to see their cash distributions increase steadily over time.
To aid your search for these moneymakers, here are two exceptional high-yield stocks to consider buying today.
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Energy Transfer
The artificial intelligence (AI) boom is creating a nearly insatiable need for new data centers, and for new electricity-generation capacity to power them. As one of the leading midstream energy companies in North America, Energy Transfer (ET 0.06%) serves a crucial role in transporting the natural gas that helps to power AI data centers, along with many other segments of the global economy.
Energy Transfer oversees more than 140,000 miles of pipelines, as well as an extensive network of gathering, processing, storage, and export facilities. Together, these assets facilitate the movement of oil, natural gas, propane, and other hydrocarbon products throughout the U.S. and to 80 international markets.
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Europe is emerging as a particularly lucrative export market for those hydrocarbons. Russia's invasion of Ukraine has accelerated many European nations' efforts to shift away from their prior reliance on Russian natural gas and toward more reliable sources of energy, such as U.S.-supplied liquefied natural gas (LNG). Energy Transfer is developing an LNG export terminal in Lake Charles, Louisiana, to increase export capacity and help satisfy the rising global demand for this increasingly essential fuel.
Meanwhile, the Trump administration says it is working to bring manufacturing of all sorts back to the U.S. Manufacturers need reliable and cost-effective energy supplies to power their factories. As a leading U.S. energy supplier, Energy Transfer stands to profit handsomely from the onshoring trend.
Energy Transfer operates as a master limited partnership (MLP), so it's designed to pass nearly all of its profits on to investors. This high-yield stock sports an 8% annual cash payout, and management says it expects to increase its distributions by as much as 5% per year.
Realty Income
Real estate is another proven source of passive income for investors. However, in the pursuit of the potential profit streams it offers, many choose to take on the sizable risks and seemingly never-ending annoyances that come with being landlords. Real estate investment trusts (REITs) offer a safer and far simpler way to benefit from owning property -- and Realty Income (O 1.01%) is as reliable as they come.
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Realty Income's portfolio includes a whopping 15,600 commercial properties. It leases these properties to over 1,600 tenants spanning 91 industries. The REIT's broad client base helps keep its revenue streams diversified, which decreases the risks that any significant portion of those tenants will be unable to cover their rents due to segment-specific issues.
Realty Income also primarily leases to companies with strong moats against e-commerce competition. For instance, discount retailers, home improvement chains, and fitness centers are well represented in the REIT's portfolio. Top clients include Walmart, Home Depot, and LA Fitness.
This sensible strategy enables Realty Income to generate dependable cash flows across market cycles. The REIT's occupancy rates have remained consistently above 96% since 1992, including a sterling 98.6% during the first half of 2025.
This steadfast operational performance permits Realty Income to reward investors with steadily growing cash distributions, which it pays out on a convenient monthly schedule. This best-in-class REIT has declared 664 consecutive monthly dividends -- and increased its payouts for 112 straight quarters. At the current share price, Realty Income yields a solid 5.5%.
Investors can safely expect these trends to continue. Management pegs Realty Income's total addressable market at a staggering $14 trillion. That leaves it plenty of room to grow its real estate holdings, rental income, and cash payouts to shareholders for many years to come.
The REIT's profits could also receive a near-term boost. The Federal Reserve may further cut benchmark interest rates in the coming months in a bid to stimulate the economy. Lower rates would help to reduce Realty Income's borrowing costs, which would, in turn, increase its profits.
