January 31, 2025
Collecting dividends on a regular basis is an excellent way to give you some extra savings and strengthen your financial position. There are many dividend stocks to choose from, but finding ones that offer high yields and are safe can be challenging. And there's nothing worse for income investors than learning that one of their dividend stocks has cut or halted their payouts.
Three stocks that look safe and may be ideal options to consider right now are Vici Properties (NYSE: VICI) , Enbridge (NYSE: ENB) , and Ford Motor Company (NYSE: F) . If you invest $17,000 in each of these high-yielding stocks, you can expect to collect $3,000 in dividends per year. Here's why they can make for great investments today.
Vici Properties is a real estate investment trust ( REIT ) that owns gaming and experiential properties in Canada and the U.S., including casinos and racetracks. These properties can benefit from an increase in both leisure activities and travel-related demand, making Vici a good option for long-term stability.
The REIT pays a quarterly dividend of $0.43, which yields around 5.7%. At that high a yield, investing around $17,000 into the stock would be enough to generate approximately $969 in annual dividend income.
The key number for dividend investors to keep in mind for the REIT is funds from operations (FFO). FFO is what REITs use when evaluating the safety of their dividend payments. It can sometimes differ from net income, which includes non-cash items. In Vici's most recent quarterly results, which ended on Sept. 30, 2024, the company's FFO per share was $0.70 -- well above the rate of its quarterly dividend.
Vici's stock returns have been flat over the past year, but it can be an excellent investment to put in your portfolio for the long haul, as the payout is high and looks incredibly safe.
You can collect a slightly higher yield from Canadian-based pipeline company Enbridge, which pays 6% in dividends. Here, a $17,000 investment would generate around $1,020 in annual dividends.
Enbridge has been a solid, reliable income stock to own over the years, as it has also been regularly increasing its payouts. In December, the company announced that it would be boosting its dividend for a 30th consecutive year. While the 3% increase wasn't massive, it's a great sign of the company's stability.
Like Vici, Enbridge uses an adjusted income metric in assessing its dividend: Distributable cash flow (DCF). The good news for investors is that Enbridge projects that its DCF will grow by around 3% for the next couple of years. That suggests that not only will the dividend will remain safe, there will be room for more rate hikes in the future.
Enbridge is an important player in the North American oil and gas industry. With its high yield, this can be a great stock to help diversify your portfolio, while also providing you with some terrific dividend income along the way.
Rounding out this list of high-yielding stocks is Ford Motor Company. Investing another $17,000 into the stock, which yields 5.9%, will allow you to earn another $1,000 in annual dividends from this stock. Together, from the three dividend stocks listed here, that will put your total annual dividends at around $3,000 -- assuming you invest $17,000 into each of them.
Ford's business has been relatively steady of late. Sales through the first nine months of 2024 totaled $136.8 billion and rose by 5% year over year. The company has been working on reducing costs while growing its operations in a way that is sustainable for the long run. Despite its high yield, Ford's payout ratio is less than 70%, which suggests that the dividend is safe and that investors can count on it for the foreseeable future.
The automaker's growth rate isn't high. With interest rates remaining relatively high, investors may not be thrilled with owning an auto stock right now, given that demand may decline in the near term. But with Ford trading at just 6 times its estimated future earnings (based on analyst projections), the stock's low valuation compensates investors for the uncertainty ahead. And with the dividend looking safe, this can still be a great income stock to buy and hold.
Before you buy stock in Vici Properties, consider this:
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