Dividend investors should know that blindly buying the highest-yielding dividend stocks can be a dangerous game.
An unusually high dividend yield is often a warning sign, mechanically triggered because stock prices and yields move in opposite directions. More often than not, a too-good-to-be-true payout is just a side effect of a crashing share price.
And anytime a company's stock is slumping badly, it's worth wondering if its dividend is sustainable at current levels.
Case in point: Look at what happened with LyondellBasell (LYB) recently. A prolonged cyclical downturn in the chemicals industry caused shares in the materials stock to fall more than 40% in 2025. The declining share price pushed LYB's dividend yield to peak at nearly 11%.
Analysts at Goldman Sachs reiterated their Sell rating on LYB in early February 2026, citing "investor uncertainty surrounding the company's dividend policy."
Goldman was right to be concerned. Weeks later, LYB slashed its dividend by 50%.
Highest-yielding dividend stocks
Sometimes, the highest-yielding dividend stocks can be fool's gold, a reality that applies even to certain high-yield names within the S&P 500.
Be forewarned: In some cases, the companies below have entered elite-yield territory only because their share prices have come under significant stress. In turn, some analysts are now concerned about the long-term sustainability of these payouts.
For example, a number of names in the packaged food industry appear to offer tasty yields, but analysts are increasingly worried about whether the payouts can be maintained at current levels.
"Questions around Campbell's (CPB) and Kraft Heinz's (KHC) capital allocation have increased focus on the group's stretched payout ratios, high leverage and worsening EPS revisions," writes Candace Browning Platt, head of global research at BofA Securities. "General Mills (GIS), CPB, and KHC are all running payout ratios above 70% vs about 60% for staples peers." A payout ratio is the percentage of a company's net income paid out to shareholders as dividends.
Happily for dividend investors, a number of Buy-rated blue chip stocks anchor the list.
Pfizer (PFE) has increased its dividend for 16 consecutive years and has paid uninterrupted dividends for more than half a century. Amcor (AMCR), one of the best dividend stocks for dependable dividend growth, gets a high-conviction Buy rating from industry analysts.
Wall Street is also bullish on United Parcel Service (UPS), which has hiked its payout annually for 16 years. Telecom giant Verizon Communications (VZ) has increased its annual dividend for two decades. Not to be outdone, Realty Income (O), which pays dividends monthly, has hiked its payout annually for more than three decades.
With those explanations and caveats out of the way, below find the 15 highest-yielding dividend stocks in the S&P 500.
Market data, analysts' estimates and analysts' recommendations are as of July 14, 2026, courtesy of YCharts and S&P Global Market Intelligence.
Company (Ticker) |
Forward dividend yield |
Analysts' consensus rating |
|---|---|---|
Pfizer (PFE) |
7.03% |
Buy |
VICI Properties (VICI) |
6.82% |
Buy |
General Mills (GIS) |
6.67% |
Hold |
Verizon Communications (VZ) |
6.63% |
Buy |
Kraft Heinz (KHC) |
6.34% |
Hold |
Amcor (AMCR) |
6.13% |
Buy |
Alexandria Real Estate Equities (ARE) |
5.99% |
Hold |
Altria Group (MO) |
5.90% |
Hold |
United Parcel Service (UPS) |
5.81% |
Buy |
Healthpeak Properties (DOC) |
5.61% |
Buy |
Comcast (CMCSA) |
5.51% |
Hold |
Crown Castle (CCI) |
5.32% |
Buy |
Clorox (CLX) |
5.22% |
Hold |
AT&T (T) |
5.15% |
Buy |
Realty Income (O) |
5.07% |
Buy |
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