Adding dividend stocks to your portfolio can provide a steady source of income and help buffer portfolio losses during market downturns. However, it's important to carefully research any dividend stock you want to buy to ensure the payout is sustainable and that the underlying business aligns with your portfolio growth goals as well as risk preferences.
Look for companies with a track record of consistent dividend payments and, ideally, a history of increasing them over time, as this can signal a stable, well-managed business. Take care not to be overly focused on a dividend yield, a metric that shows shows the annual dividend as a percentage of the current stock price.
While an attractive yield is great, an overly high dividend yield won't tell you much about the quality of the company. In fact, a yield that has been pushed too high can indicate a falling stock price and even underlying financial distress.
With that, here are two dividend stocks to consider scooping up right now.
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1. VICI Properties
VICI Properties (VICI 0.56%) is a real estate investment trust (REIT) that specializes in owning, acquiring, and developing experiential real estate. It's one of the largest landowners on the Las Vegas Strip with a portfolio of 93 assets that includes iconic destinations such as Caesars Palace, MGM Grand, and The Venetian Resort. These include 54 gaming properties and 39 other experience-focused property assets. VICI was created in 2017 as a spinoff from Caesars Entertainment during its Chapter 11 bankruptcy to separate its valuable casino real estate from its operations.
As a REIT, VICI can own casino properties, lease them out, and generate rental income for shareholders. VICI held its initial public offering in early 2018, and was one of the largest REIT IPOs at the time. VICI is required to pay out most of its taxable income as dividends to shareholders, so it has remained a reliable dividend payer that has increased its annual dividend for seven consecutive years since its IPO. Its current annual dividend is around $1.80 per share, and it boasts a strong dividend yield of approximately 6.3%.
VICI utilizes a triple-net (NNN) lease model, which separates property ownership from day-to-day operations. Under triple-net agreements, tenants are responsible for all property-related expenses, including taxes, insurance, and maintenance. The company maintains a 100% occupancy rate. Most of VICI's long-term leases include rent escalators linked to the Consumer Price Index (CPI), a strategy that helps safeguard its rental income against inflation. All lease agreements include annual base rent escalations that can be fixed or variable.
NYSE: VICI
Key Data Points
Some leases feature a flat annual increase while other leases include a floor (e.g., a 2% annual increase) and scale with CPI above that, often subject to a cap. VICI operates with an impressive weighted-average lease term of over 40 years. While its core portfolio is in gaming and casinos, the REIT has increasingly diversified into other experiential sectors. These include golf courses, water parks, wellness centers, and luxury mixed-use developments.
For Q3 2025, VICI reported total revenues of around $1.01 billion, a 4.4% increase year over year. Meanwhile, adjusted funds from operations (AFFO) per share rose 5.3% to $0.60. For Q3 2025, VICI reported approximately $508 million in cash and cash equivalents, while its free cash flow came to around $586 million. If you want to invest in the defensive real estate sector while gathering generous dividends to boot, VICI Properties looks well worth a buy-and-hold position.
2. Bristol Myers Squibb
Bristol Myers Squibb (BMY +0.03%) boasts a wide-ranging pharmaceutical product portfolio centered on oncology, cardiovascular concerns, and immunology. Its current annual dividend is $2.52 per share, and its dividend yield is upwards of 4.6% at the time of this article. The company has been paying a dividend for close to a century, but its track record of increasing its dividend every single year is now at an 18-year stretch and counting.
One of the drugs the company is best known for is Eliquis, a blood thinner it co-developed with Pfizer. The drug is the company's top revenue generator, but faces a patent cliff starting around 2026. Another key drug for Bristol Myers Squibb is Opdivo, a cornerstone cancer immunotherapy used across multiple tumor types that helps the immune system detect and fight cancer cells. This drug also faces patent expiration around 2028.
Patent expirations are a normal part of the business cycle for pharmaceutical companies, which plan years in advance for these vital periods. Bristol Myers Squibb is rapidly expanding its portfolio of newer drugs to fill the revenue gap from expected patent losses. One such product is Reblozyl, a treatment for anemia in patients with thalassemia and other blood disorders that's now set to surpass over $2 billion in annual sales.
NYSE: BMY
Key Data Points
There's also Breyanzi, a cell therapy for large B-cell lymphoma and other indications that delivered sales growth of 60% year over year in the recent quarter. Camzyos is a cardiovascular drug for symptomatic obstructive hypertrophic cardiomyopathy that clocked sales growth of 89% year over year in Q3. Other key growth drivers include Cobenfy (an oral medication for schizophrenia), Sotyktu (treats psoriasis), Opdualag (for melanoma), and Abecma (treats multiple myeloma).
The company reported excellent Q3 2025 results, with $12.2 billion in revenue, up 3% from one year ago. Net earnings for the quarter totaled $2.2 billion, an 81% increase from one year ago. If you're looking for a stalwart healthcare stock and dividend play to invest in for the long run, Bristol Myers Squibb is an intriguing name to consider.
