Dividend stocks can be the ultimate investments to buy and forget about. They'll generate recurring income for your portfolio, even if you've forgotten you own them. What's important, however, is to ensure you're investing in safe and dependable dividend stocks, so you don't encounter a surprise cut or suspension to the payout. Dividends, after all, are never guaranteed.
Finding stocks that are both safe and offer high yields can be challenging, but it's by no means impossible. Three terrific high-yielding stocks you'll want to consider for your portfolio today are Pfizer (PFE +0.04%), Realty Income (O +1.65%), and Canadian Natural Resources (CNQ +3.14%). By investing $12,000 in each of them, you can generate more than $2,000 in dividends per year.
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1. Pfizer
Pfizer can be a frustrating stock to own if you're waiting for it to rise in value. Its share price has declined by more than 30% in the past five years, as the healthcare company isn't generating much growth these days. But Pfizer has been making acquisitions to bolster its growth potential, including its acquisition of Seagen in 2023 and its recent purchase of GLP-1 drug developer Metsera.
In the meantime, however, the company continues to pay a high dividend. At 6.8%, it's a phenomenal yield that's more than six times what you'd get with the average S&P 500 stock (which yields roughly 1.1%). Pfizer knows the importance of its dividend to its shareholders and keeping it intact, with CEO Albert Bourla previously referring to it as a "sacred cow."
NYSE: PFE
Key Data Points
Pfizer may seem to be a stock that's going nowhere, but it's an investment that will require patience, as the company's pipeline may take some time to pay off. In the meantime, you can collect a terrific dividend. An investment of $12,000 in the stock could generate around $820 in annual dividends. Due to the bearishness surrounding it, the stock is also a fairly cheap buy, trading at just 8 times its estimated future earnings (based on analyst estimates).
2. Realty Income
A real estate investment trust (REIT) can make for an excellent income investment. Its top line is made up of rent payments from its tenants. And with a wide variety of tenants in its portfolio and an occupancy rate that's typically around 99%, Realty Income is one of the safest REITs you can invest in.
It has over 1,600 clients spanning 92 industries. Diversification is what income investors crave to ensure their dividend payments are safe, and Realty Income offers plenty of that. Its dividend yields 5.6%, which isn't as high a yield as Pfizer's, but it can still produce a fair bit of dividend income. On a $12,000 investment, you'd be collecting around $670 in dividends from Realty Income over the course of a full year.
NYSE: O
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In the long run, your dividend income is also likely to rise as Realty Income has increased its dividend, which it pays on a monthly basis, a whopping 665 times, spanning more than 30 years. For long-term dividend investors, Realty Income can be a no-brainer buy.
3. Canadian Natural Resources
Like REITs, oil and gas stocks can also make for dependable income investments due to their consistency and stability over the long term. Canadian Natural Resources is a top crude oil and natural gas producer. The company has been doing well despite economic uncertainty over the past year and has even increased its production guidance for 2025.
It has used acquisitions to grow in size, and the company's chief financial officer, Victor Darel, says that its "business model is robust and sustainable, underpinned by a strong balance sheet that provides flexibility through significant liquidity."
Oil and gas stocks can make for good hedges against inflation and economic uncertainty. In five years, shares of Canadian Natural Resources have risen by around 170%. And despite that impressive increase in value, it still trades at a reasonable price-to-earnings multiple of 15.
NYSE: CNQ
Key Data Points
On top of it all, it also pays a dividend that yields around 5% today. With a payout ratio of around 70%, investors don't need to worry about the safety of Canadian Natural Resources' dividend.
Investing $12,000 in the stock today would allow you to collect approximately $600 in dividends per year. Combined with the other investments on this list, that would put your total annual dividend income from all of them at nearly $2,100.
