Putting cash into high-yield dividend stocks can provide long-term investors with a consistent income stream from companies with a history of sustainable dividend payments and strong financial health. Reinvesting those dividends over decades can significantly enhance your total returns through the power of compounding too.
Dividend-paying companies are often large, mature, and financially stable, so their stock prices can be less volatile than growth stocks and offer some downside protection during market downturns. A company that consistently pays and increases its dividends is a strong indicator of its robust cash flow and sound management.
That said, an unusually high yield can be a red flag and be a function of a declining stock price due to underlying company problems, so it's important to not get caught in yield traps and focus on quality underlying business. Here are three superb and high-yielding dividend stocks with yields north of 5% that look like no-brainer buys right now.
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1. Realty Income
Realty Income (O +0.04%) boasts a dividend yield of approximately 5.8%. The company is known for its monthly payouts, and boasts a remarkable dividend history of over 56 years of payments. It's also declared 666 consecutive monthly dividends with a history of consistent increases, including 113 straight quarterly hikes and 133 since its 1994 listing on the New York Stock Exchange.
Realty Income is a major real estate investment trust (REIT) that invests in diversified commercial real estate properties: primarily single-tenant retail, industrial, and agricultural assets, which it leases out under long-term agreements. The company generates stable cash flow from these leases, which it uses to pay dependable monthly dividends to its stockholders.
In Q3 2025, Realty Income reported adjusted funds from operations (AFFO) per share of $1.08 and total revenue of $1.47 billion (up 11% year over year). These figures were driven by significant global investment activity totaling $1.4 billion, high portfolio occupancy (98.7%), and a 103.5% rent recapture rate. The company primarily uses a net lease structure, where the tenant is responsible for property operating expenses like taxes, maintenance, and insurance, which also helps preserve predictable cash flow for the company.
NYSE: O
Key Data Points
The company has a large and diversified portfolio of over 15,500 properties in the U.S. and Europe leased to more than 1,600 clients across nearly 100 industries. In terms of industry diversification, its top five tenants include grocery stores (10.8%), convenience stores (9.7%), home improvement stores (6.4%), dollar stores (6.2%), and quick service restaurants (4.8%).
Still, no single tenant represents more than 3.3% of its annualized base rent. If you're looking for a fantastic dividend stock to buy and hold for the long run that also gives you generous exposure to the real estate industry, Realty Income surpasses the mark on both counts.
2. Pfizer
Pfizer (PFE +0.26%) pays a dividend that yields around 6.8%. While the yield has been pushed higher as share prices have delivered a lackluster performance at best in the last few years, Pfizer has a long-standing history of paying quarterly dividends and has boosted its payout annually for 16 consecutive years.
In the last 12 months, Pfizer generated $14 billion in free cash flow. Pfizer's stock has faced pressure due to waning COVID-19 product sales and upcoming patent expirations, but the company is strategically repositioning itself with key acquisitions and a strong pipeline in oncology as well as newer areas like obesity.
For the full year 2024, Pfizer reported total revenues of $63.6 billion, a 7% operational increase from 2023. Excluding COVID-19 products, operational revenue growth was a stronger 12%. The pivotal $43 billion acquisition of Seagen in 2023 has significantly bolstered Pfizer's oncology portfolio with numerous approved drugs, including Padcev and Adcetris. The recent FDA approval of a Padcev combination with Merck's Keytruda for bladder cancer is expected to achieve multibillion-dollar peak annual sales. And, Pfizer aims to have eight or more blockbuster oncology medicines by 2030.
NYSE: PFE
Key Data Points
The recent acquisition of Metsera also positions Pfizer to enter the rapidly expanding market for drugs to treat obesity. Metsera's pipeline includes promising clinical-stage GLP-1 agonists, with a once-monthly injectable option in phase 3 development that may offer a significant convenience advantage over current weekly injectables. Existing non-COVID products, such as the RSV vaccine Abrysvo, migraine treatment Nurtec ODT, and ulcerative colitis treatment Velsipity, are also expected to drive growth in the near term.
This is key given the pending patent cliffs for major drugs like Ibrance and Eliquis. For investors with a long-term focus on Pfizer's growth potential, its quality healthcare business, and generous dividend could incentivize a buy-and-hold position.
3. Verizon
Verizon (VZ +0.41%) also hasn't delivered the most impressive share price gains in recent years, but its yield has risen to just shy of 7% as of the time of this article. The company has a consistent history of paying and growing its dividend for many decades, and it has raised its dividend for over 21 consecutive years at this point.
Verizon's total operating revenue came to $33.8 billion in Q3 2025, a 1.5% increase year over year. The company reported consolidated net income of $5.1 billion, a significant increase from $3.4 billion in Q3 2024. And, free cash flow for the first nine months of 2025 rose to $15.8 billion, up from $14.5 billion in the same period in 2024.
The company is also making progress in reducing its debt, with total unsecured debt at the end of Q3 2025 at $119.7 billion, down from $126.4 billion a year earlier. Verizon derives its revenue primarily from wireless service subscriptions (postpaid & prepaid), device sales (phones, smartwatches), and growing its 5G-driven Fixed Wireless Access broadband, as well as some miscellaneous business solutions. The company is undergoing a turnaround strategy that involves implementing various cost-saving initiatives and expanding its 5G and broadband networks.
NYSE: VZ
Key Data Points
Verizon is also laying off over 13,000 non-union employees as part of a major restructuring under new CEO Dan Schulman. The company is contending with intense competition in the wireless market, and is experiencing some postpaid phone net losses in the consumer segment. Schulman noted that the company's reliance on price increases led to losing 7,000 postpaid phone customers in Q3 2025, a significant reversal from the 18,000 additions in Q3 2024.
On the other hand, the company reported 47,000 wireless retail core prepaid net additions in Q3, marking the fifth consecutive quarter of positive subscriber growth in this area. Verizon's strategic overhaul will take time, and investors will need to be patient. In the meantime, this profitable, dividend-paying business could be worth a second look for long-term shareholders.
