Despite their share prices experiencing significant weakness recently, dividends are on the rise for three key stocks that are huge players in their respective industries. This includes banking and restaurant behemoths, as well as a top name in hotel and casino real estate, with all three providing meaningful to high dividend yields.
For income investors, the opportunity comes down to whether those rising payouts remain well supported by earnings, cash flow, and manageable payout ratios despite recent weakness in the stock price.
JPMorgan Ups Dividend 10% in Face of Bank Sell-Off
After putting up a total return of more than 37% in 2025, gains for JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE: JPM) have moderated. Shares have returned less than 10% in 2026. This has come largely due to recent weakness in bank stocks.
The difference between short-term and long-term rates has narrowed significantly as of late. Between two-year U.S. Treasuries and 10-year Treasuries, the spread has fallen from over 50 basis points to around 25 basis points. This can put pressure on banks' ability to realize a strong spread from using short-term deposits to fund longer-term loans.
Still, JPMorgan is adding juice to its dividend, recently announcing a strong 10% increase. The figure will move up to $1.65, with its next dividend having a record date of Oct. 6 and a payable date of Oct. 31. The stock’s forward dividend yield has now moved to just below 2%, providing a meaningful source of income return for investors.
JPMorgan is also in a strong position regarding dividend sustainability. The company’s payout ratio sits near 26%. Analysts typically consider payout ratios of 60% or less to be indicators of strong dividend sustainability, and JPMorgan’s figure sits well below this.
McDonald’s Joins “Dividend Kings” as Shares Tumble in 2026
The world’s most valuable restaurant stock, McDonald’s (NYSE: MCD), has had a difficult run so far in 2026. Overall, shares are down approximately 20% year to date. The company’s latest earnings report didn’t help, with U.S. growth showing weakness. U.S. comparable sales rose by just 0.8% in Q2, a huge step down from 3.9% growth in Q1.
Furthermore, the company announced an $8.5 billion franchisee support program through 2036, also indicating weakness. Still, the company is targeting a low-to-mid 50% operating margin by 2030, which would be a significant expansion compared to its year-to-date operating margin of 46.9%.
Despite this difficult stretch, McDonald's has announced a moderate 3.8% dividend increase, supporting its already strong yield. The latest increase pushes McDonald’s forward yield to approximately 3.3%, which is among the highest yields in the U.S. consumer discretionary sector. Its next $1.93 dividend has a record date of Dec. 1 and a payable date of Dec. 15.
The company’s payout ratio is near 60%, also leaving its dividend well supported. Additionally, McDonald's holds among the longest streaks of consecutive dividend increases, having raised its payout for 50 years in a row. With this, the company joins the “Dividend Kings," which includes fewer than 60 public U.S. companies.
VICI’s Yield Moves Above 7.5% as Growth Moderates
VICI Properties (NYSE: VICI) has also seen its share price slide lately, with its total return for 2026 now near -10%. VICI is a real estate investment trust (REIT) with a heavy focus on hotel casinos. The company owns Caesars Palace, the MGM Grand, and the Venetian in Las Vegas, and over 100 properties in total.
VICI’s adjusted funds from operations per share guidance growth for 2026 is 3.4% at the midpoint, which would be a meaningful decrease compared to 5.1% growth in 2025. However, on a more positive note, the company cited very strong Las Vegas Strip occupancy of 93% for one of its key tenants, MGM Resorts International (NYSE: MGM).
VICI has issued a slight 2.2% increase to its quarterly dividend, moving the figure up to 46 cents per share. However, VICI’s yield was already very high, with the latest increase moving its forward yield to approximately 7.7%.
The stock’s payout ratio appears moderately elevated, sitting just above 70%. However, REITs tend to have substantially higher payout ratios than other sectors because they must distribute at least 90% of their taxable income as dividends. In this context, VICI’s payout ratio provides solid dividend sustainability. The record date for VICI’s latest dividend was Sept. 17, but the company’s solid payout ratio makes a future cut unlikely at this point.
Watch Caesar’s Relationship as Analysts Point to Upside in VICI Properties
Overall, JPM, MDC, and VICI all offer a considerable degree of dividend income and are showing their willingness to return more capital to shareholders. Additionally, these names all have solid dividend sustainability, which can provide headroom for further dividend increases.
Among this group, analysts are eyeing a notable recovery in VICI shares. The MarketBeat consensus price target near $30 implies more than 20% upside. Looking ahead, a key watch item will be whether VICI’s lease terms with Caesars Entertainment (NASDAQ: CZR), its largest tenant, improve or deteriorate. Some analysts believe that Caesars could look to lower the rent it pays to VICI, which would be a negative outcome for the REIT.
The article "3 Dividend Stocks With Higher Yields and Room for More Payout Growth" first appeared on MarketBeat.
