8 Best High-Yield Dividend Stocks: The Pros’ Picks for 2026

It’s difficult to resist the charm of high-yield dividend stocks. Their ability to generate outsized amounts of cash makes them the stuff of dreams for those living on a fixed income—as well as for any investors who simply want a little performance ballast during periods of rough stock-price returns.

But if you simply target the fattest dividend yields and call it a day, you’re in for a rude awakening.

There’s a reason risk is so often mentioned alongside reward. A stock offering several times more yield than the market average might very well be the undiscovered can’t-miss stock pick of the year … or it might be flashing a signal that many investors have passed it up for a reason. And sure, a very high yield can help make up for some underperformance in the stock price—but only if the dividend continues to be paid. Some high-dividend stocks have unsustainable payouts that are just an earnings miss or economic downturn away from collapse.

I’m not saying you should run screaming from any stock that offers an outsized payday. I’m just saying you shouldn’t buy them on yield alone. Quality matters, too.

Today, I’ll examine a group of high-yield dividend stocks that are showing more signs of fundamental quality than most. Not only do they deliver much sweeter yields than your average stock, but they also have the confidence of Wall Street’s analyst community.

Disclaimer: This article does not constitute individualized investment advice. Individual securities, funds, and/or other investments appear for your consideration and not as personalized investment recommendations. Act at your own discretion.

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Dividend Yields (And Dividend Safety)

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Dividend yield is a simple calculation: annual dividend / price x 100. But this humble calculator crunch can mean a world of difference for investors, especially those reliant on income.

Let’s say you have a $1 million nest egg heading into retirement. If your portfolio yields 3%, you’ll collect $30,000 in dividend and interest income each year. If it yields 6%, though, you’ll collect $60,000—a dramatically higher number that would wildly alter your retirement calculus.

But dividend yields can be deceiving. You see, a company can get a very high annual dividend yield in two very different ways: the dividend growing very rapidly, or the share price falling very quickly. Here’s an example:

Alpha Corp., which trades for $100 per share, pays a 50¢-per-share quarterly dividend, or $2 across the whole year. It yields 2.0%. In a month, however, it yields 4.0%. Here are two ways that could have happened:

1. Alpha Corp. doubled its dividend to $1.00 per share quarterly, good for a $4-per-share annual dividend. The share price stays the same. ($4 / $100 x 100 = 4.0%)
2. Alpha Corp. kept its dividend at 50¢ quarterly ($2 annually), but its share price plunged in half to $50 per share. ($2 / $50 x 100 = 4.0%)

Understand that a company’s stock can plunge even if its financials are perfectly healthy; markets aren’t always rational. But very broadly speaking, if you’re comparing a company that just doubled its dividend to another company whose shares have been cut in half, you’d expect the former’s dividend health to be better.

That’s why you should always be mindful of dividend safety, but especially when it comes to high-yield dividend stocks. That’s because oftentimes, the dividend is a more significant contributor to returns than price, so any danger to the dividend could undermine your investment thesis.

So, that’s your goal: Determine whether the high-dividend stocks you buy are financially stable and can generate substantial profits and cash, which is how the dividend gets paid. Among other things, you’ll want to look at payout ratio, which determines what percentage of a company’s profits, distributable cash flow, and other financial metrics (depending on the type of stock) are being used to finance the dividend. Generally speaking, the lower the payout ratio, the more sustainable the payout.

Related: Direct Indexing: A (Tax-) Smarter Way to Index Your Investments

8 Highly Rated High-Yield Dividend Stocks

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Today, I’m going to look at several high-dividend stocks yielding at least 5%—a level that’s more than four times what the S&P 500 offers currently, and that’s well above most traditional high-dividend ETFs. Actually, several of these stocks yield much more than 5% … resulting in an average dividend yield of almost 10% across this list!

Every stock on this list also has a favorable view from Wall Street’s analyst community. The consensus analyst rating, courtesy of S&P Global Market Intelligence, is the average of all known analyst ratings of the stock, boiled down to a numerical system where …

• Less than 1.5 = Strong Buy
• 1.5-2.5 = Buy
• 2.5-3.5 = Hold
• 3.5-4.5 = Sell
• More than 4.5 = Strong Sell

In short, the lower the number, the better the overall consensus view on the stock. In the case of this list, I’ve included only stocks that have received a 2 or lower—in other words, clear-cut Buys in the analysts’ eyes.

Importantly: These are the best dividend stocks among companies that pay pretty high yields, but that doesn’t make any pick here a no-brainer slam dunk. They all have a blemish or two—whether it’s significant stock weakness of late, interest-rate risk, tight dividend coverage, or something else—but to the pros, at least, their high yields, relative value, and/or growth potential make the risk worth taking. So if you’re going to jump into high-yield investing, just make sure you do so with your eyes wide open.

Stocks are listed in reverse order of dividend yield, from the lowest-paying stock to the highest.

High-Yield Dividend Stock #8: Amcor

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• Industry: Packaging and containers
• Market capitalization: $19.4 billion
• Dividend yield: 6.2%
• Consensus analyst rating: 1.69 (Buy)

Amcor (AMCR) produces flexible and rigid packaging products for a wide variety of industries. Its rigid packaging is used on any number of grocery-store items, including soft drinks, water, sports drinks, sauces, spreads, even personal-care items, while its flexible packaging is used in the food-and-beverage, medical, and pharmaceutical industries, among others. (Thus, while Amcor is considered a consumer discretionary name, it’s truly closer to being a consumer-industrial hybrid.)

Amcor is also a lot bigger than it was this time last year, having completed its acquisition of Berry Global in April 2025. The combined company now boasts more than 400 facilities and 75,000 employees, with a reach of over 40 countries.

Mergers and acquisitions (M&A) can cause short-term turbulence, and that very well could be the case at Amcor, where analysts are largely bullish (nine Buys versus three Holds and no Sells) but cautious about the months ahead.

“We believe the company has multiple avenues at its disposal to drive more pronounced volume growth, EBITDA, and FCF [following the Berry] acquisition, which we view as a transformational transaction,” says Truist Managing Director Michael Roxland, who rates shares at Buy. “Volumes should improve by at least 100bps through a combination of cross-selling, new geographies, and do-it-yourself. Further, EBITDA and FCF growth will be driven by better volumes as well as cost synergies, which we believe have upside.”

Amcor isn’t just a high dividend yielder; it’s a longtime dividend grower, too.

The company boasts more than four decades of uninterrupted annual hikes to its cash distribution, putting it among the ranks of the S&P 500 Dividend Aristocrats. AMCR marked 42 years with the announcement of a 2% raise, to 65¢ per share, in November 2025. (Note: The dividend amount here has been adjusted for a 1-for-5 reverse stock split, also announced in November, that was completed in mid-January 2026. At the time of the announcement, the increase was listed as a 2% raise to 13¢ per share.)

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High-Yield Dividend Stock #7: Alpine Income Property Trust

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• Industry: Net-lease REIT
• Market capitalization: $312.8 million
• Dividend yield: 6.3%
• Consensus analyst rating: 1.45 (Strong Buy)

Alpine Income Property Trust (PINE) is a real estate investment trust (REIT) that owns a portfolio of 127 predominantly single-tenant “net-lease” properties in 32 states. Its tenants include retailers, pharmacies, grocery stores and more—tenants include Lowe’s (LOW), Dick’s Sporting Goods (DKS), Walgreens (WBA), and Best Buy (BBY).

Net-lease arrangements are different from traditional leases. They typically require tenants to be responsible for taxes, insurance, and maintenance—thus, all rent is “net” of those expenses. As a result, net-lease REITs’ results tend to be a little more regular and predictable compared to traditional REITs.

It also has a portfolio of mortgage originations, which it can use to bolster its income, but it’s a higher-risk, lower-quality business.

“[Alpine Income Property Trust has] a favorable portfolio composition relative to peers in terms of both retail real estate and investment-grade tenant exposure,” says B. Riley Securities analyst John Massocca, who rates the stock at Buy. “A more dovish interest-rate environment should be a positive given the REIT’s current floating-rate exposure and near-term refinancing needs. Improvements in the cost of debt capital could also help offset the impact of expected high-yield loan investments maturing in the next few years.”

Massocca, who reiterated his Buy call after the company’s Street-beating earnings report in February, is one of nine Buys on the stock, versus two Holds and no Sells.

PINE has been dutifully raising its dividend since coming public in 2019. The most recent quarterly payout of 30¢ per share annualizes to a yield of more than 6% at current prices. There’s naturally higher risk just given Alpine’s small size relative to most of the other names on this list, but its yield and growing business put it among the best high-yield dividend stocks to buy now.

Related: How to Choose a Financial Advisor

High-Yield Dividend Stock #6: Energy Transfer LP

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• Industry: Energy midstream
• Market capitalization: $65.9 billion
• Distribution yield: 7.0%*
• Consensus analyst rating: 1.52 (Buy)

Energy Transfer LP (ET) is one of the continent’s largest midstream energy firms. The Dallas-based MLP’s assets include roughly 140,000 miles of energy pipelines and other infrastructure across 44 states, and it’s responsible for transporting and storing crude oil, natural gas, NGLs, and refined products. Its additional assets include Lake Charles LNG Company, a 21% stake in Sunoco LP (SUN), and a 38% stake in USA Compression Partners LP (USAC).

“We continue to favor ET’s dominant energy infrastructure footprint and believe the partnership is well positioned to grow over the last several years,” say Stifel analysts Selman Akyol and Timothy O’Toole, who rate Energy Transfer’s units at Buy. “While capital expenditures will likely remain elevated in the near-term, we believe ET can maintain an attractive financial position and continue to modestly grow its distribution. We believe investors will be well served by owning ET as demand for U.S. energy increases around the globe.”

UBS analyst Manav Gupta (Buy) adds that Energy Transfer is well-positioned to meet growing demand for natural gas to generate electricity for data centers. “ET has a head start, and at this point, it has more third-party customers signed up to supply nat gas to power data centers than their peers,” he says. “We see this momentum continuing and expect existing orders to be upsized as ET signs new customers in the next 12-24 months.”

This promise has 18 of ET’s 21 covering analysts in the Buy camp. The trio of dissenters call ET a Hold.

As for the distribution? For those who don’t remember, Energy Transfer chopped its payout in half in 2020 during the depths of COVID. However, it started a quarterly distribution growth streak in 2022—one that has persisted even after it surpassed post-COVID distribution levels in late 2023.

Energy Transfer says it’s committed to growing the distribution even more going forward, though it’s taking an understandably cautious approach, targeting 3% to 5% annual growth. Distribution coverage is plenty adequate; estimates for distributable cash flow are just a little less than twice what it needs to afford its payout.

You’ll probably notice that I’ve been using some unfamiliar terminology. That’s because ET is a master limited partnership (MLP), which trades like a stock but is internally organized differently. It also uses a few different terms. For instance, shares are “units,” and it pays a dividend-esque “distribution” that can be something of a hassle from a taxation standpoint, especially for novices.

* Distribution yield is calculated by annualizing the most recent distribution and dividing by unit price. Distributions are like dividends, but they are treated as tax-deferred returns of capital and require different tax paperwork.

Related: 14 Best Investing Research & Stock Analysis Websites

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High-Yield Dividend Stock #5: CTO Realty Growth

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• Industry: Retail and mixed-use REIT
• Market capitalization: $636.7 million
• Dividend yield: 7.8%
• Consensus analyst rating: 1.00 (Strong Buy)

CTO Realty Growth (CTO) is a retail-oriented REIT that holds a tight portfolio of 21 properties spanning 5.5 million square feet across seven Southeast and Southwest states. It also owns a roughly 15% interest in the aforementioned Alpine Income Property Trust.

It divides its portfolio into three types of properties: grocery-anchored retail, retail “power centers,” and retail-focused lifestyle and mixed-used properties. Its properties are also located in and near affluent areas—the portfolio average household income within five miles is $140,000—many of which are benefitting from booming population growth.

The company has actually existed in one form or another since 1902, and it has been paying dividends for more than half a century. But it really put the pedal down on dividend payments when it converted into a REIT in early 2021. The company paid 12¢ per share across 2019; in 2025, it paid $1.52.

Related: Don’t Make These 7 Mistakes When Choosing a Financial Advisor

The stock has largely responded, doubling on a total-return basis (price plus dividends) since Feb. 1, 2021, versus just about 30% gains for the REIT benchmark.

The few analysts who cover CTO Realty Growth see more good times ahead. Indeed, they’re unanimously bullish—all six call the stock a Buy. Thus, while CTO shares don’t have have the largest dividend on this list, it’s easily the best-rated of our high-yield dividend stocks.

Late last year, B. Riley Financial analyst John Massocca (Buy) says the REIT “trades at far and away the lowest FFO/sh and AFFO/sh multiples in the shopping center REIT subsector and one of the widest reNAV/sh discounts,” referring to funds from operations and adjusted funds from operations, which are pivotal metrics of REIT profitability. “While some of this can be explained by the REIT’s small market cap and elevated leverage vs. peers, we still believe the scale of the REIT’s discount is far too severe. This is especially true, in our opinion, given CTO’s robust recent investment activity, the high yields on those investments, and recent incremental reductions to leverage.” He maintains a Buy rating on shares today.

The dividend is in good shape, too. CTO recently provided full-year 2026 AFFO guidance of $2.11-$2.16 per share, which would easily cover the company’s $1.52 in annual dividends.

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High-Yield Dividend Stock #4: Rithm Capital

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• Industry: Mortgage REIT and alternative asset management
• Market capitalization: $5.5 billion
• Dividend yield: 10.0%
• Consensus analyst rating: 1.44 (Strong Buy)

Most REITs that you read about tend to be “equity REITs,” which deal in physical real estate. Specifically, they own (and sometimes operate or manage) properties, whether that’s apartments, office buildings, hotels, warehouses, you name it.

But “mortgage REITs” deal in paper real estate. That typically takes the form of residential and/or commercial mortgages, as well as mortgage-backed securities (MBSes). An mREIT will borrow money at short-term interest rates. It will take that money and buy mortgages, MBSes, and/or other mortgage-related securities. It will then earn income from the interest generated by these products—and use much of this profit to pay dividends to its shareholders. In fact, mREITs tend to have higher dividend yields than their traditional real estate cousins.

Rithm Capital (RITM) is technically a mortgage REIT, though it looks much different than the other mREITs that appear later in this list. This “hybrid” mREIT has numerous businesses, including alternative asset management. RITM invests in residential mortgages loans, consumer loans, single-family rentals, mortgage servicing rights (MSRs), residential transitional loans, secured lending and structured products, and commercial real estate.

Ever since the 2020 financing crisis, the company has transformed its business model, growing its mortgage servicing business while also acquiring a variety of debt-related investment opportunities. It continues to be acquisitive, too, completing deals to acquire an alternative asset manager (Crestline Management) and an owner-operator of Class A properties (Paramount Group) in December 2025.

“Over the past few years, RITM has transitioned from an owner of [mortgage servicing rights] to a mortgage bank and diversified investment manager with multiple business segments. The company also acquired Sculptor, a publicly traded asset manager, in 2023,” say Keefe, Bruyette & Woods analysts, who rate the stock at Outperform. “We think the shares provide an attractive combination of a stable current return with potential upside optionality if the company is able to grow as an alternative asset management and/or publicly list its mortgage bank at a premium to book value.”

The pros love the new-look RITM. Currently, every one of the nine analysts covering the stock call it a Buy. More recently, a dip in shares has some of those analysts excited about the value proposition.

“We believe that the market is lumping alternative managers together and ignoring RITM other business lines,” writes Argus Research analyst Kevin Heal (Buy). “It continues to grow its mortgage servicing business, refine its’ mortgage recapture process with recent partnerships while also taking advantage of new debt-related investment opportunities.”

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Related: How to Retire Without Investing in the Stock Market

High-Yield Dividend Stock #3: Sixth Street Specialty Lending

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• Industry: BDC
• Market capitalization: $1.7 billion
• Dividend yield: 11.1%*
• Consensus analyst rating: 1.55 (Buy)

Sixth Street Specialty Lending (TSLX) belongs to another high-yielding acronym industry: business development companies (BDCs).

Fun fact: Congress is actually responsible for the creation of real estate investment trusts, which were brought to life in 1960 with a mandate to return at least 90% of their taxable income back to shareholders as dividends (in exchange for favorable tax treatment). Well, 20 years later, in the hopes of spurring investment in smaller businesses, Congress went back to the same playbook and created BDCs—with the same dividend mandate.

Sixth Street Specialty Lending provides financing to middle-market companies primarily through senior secured loans, though also occasionally mezzanine loans, unsecured loans, bonds, and equity. Importantly, 96% of the company’s debt investments are floating-rate in nature, meaning that their rates shift alongside benchmark interest rates.

TSLX is somewhat conservative compared to other BDCs; historically, it has held only 5% to 15% of its investments (by fair value) in cyclical companies. Currently, it has 143 portfolio companies across internet services, retail, consumer products, business services, and about a dozen other industries; that number includes 36 structured credit investments. No holding makes up more than 3% of the portfolio by fair value.

“Because TSLX is a relatively small vehicle managed under the large Sixth Street Partners platform ($70+ billion), it can be nimble, flexible, and creative in providing compelling credit solutions to borrowers, but also has the size, scale, and resources of a large credit platform. This has contributed to TSLX’s originating very attractive investments and generating one of the highest returns in the BDC sector,” say Keefe, Bruyette & Woods analysts, who are among the 10 firms with Buy-equivalent calls on the stock, versus one Hold and no Sells. “We view TSLX’s management team as one of the best in the sector, which has been proven by their ability to generate significant value and very high returns through many different economic environments.”

That said, prospective and current shareholders alike should mind the latest on former CEO Joshua Easterly, who stepped down from the role at the end of 2025 but retained his roles as co-President and co-CIO of Sixth Street. In February, he announced he would retire fully once his term as chairman ends in June. “While TSLX held up well following the prior CEO change announcement last November, there was still a perception that Mr. Easterly would remain a member of the investment process at Sixth Street,” KBW analyst Paul Johnson says. “We believe the announcement will create some uncertainty among investors as it is essentially two unexpected announcements.”

* Sixth Street Specialty Lending’s yield may include variable supplemental dividends. The yield on TSLX’s regular quarterly dividend is 10.3% as of this writing.

Related: The 10 Best Dividend ETFs [Get Income + Diversify]

High-Yield Dividend Stock #2: Trinity Capital

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• Industry: BDC
• Market capitalization: $1.2 billion
• Dividend yield: 13.4%
• Consensus analyst rating: 1.78 (Buy)

Trinity Capital (TRIN), another BDC, is an alternative asset manager that focuses on five specific business verticals: technology lending, equipment financing, life sciences, asset-based lending, and sponsor finance.

Loans make up the majority (77%) of the portfolio by investment type, floating-rate loans make up a large (82%) and growing percentage of that part of the debt portfolio. Another 15% is made up of equipment financings, and the rest is equity and warrants. Its roughly 200 portfolio companies include the likes of launch service and spacecraft component provider RocketLab, non-alcoholic craft brewer Athletic Brewing, and arthroplasty-focused medical device firm Shoulder Innovations.

B. Riley Securities analyst Sean-Paul Adams has a Buy rating on shares, citing the company’s investment-grade rating from Moody’s, SBIC fund approval, record origination levels and increased equipment finance vertical demand. “TTRIN’s strong yield preservation, originations momentum, and platform expansion provide meaningful near-term upside potential, in our view, with trends in Sponsor Finance volumes having a minimal impact on net origination growth,” he says.

Adams is one of seven Buy-equivalent ratings on the stock, opposed by just one Hold and one Sell.

Trinity’s sky-high dividend yield (currently north of 13%) is blunted a little bit by a lack of payout growth. The company came public in early 2021, and raised its dividend on a quarterly basis through the end of 2023, but it has kept that distribution level ever since.

That said, Trinity started 2026 by joining the ranks of monthly dividend stocks, so investors will be getting paid much more frequently now. That, as well as the mammoth payout and high ratings from analysts, are more than enough to put Trinity among the best high-yield dividend stocks to buy now.

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High-Yield Dividend Stock #1: Dynex Capital

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• Industry: Mortgage REIT
• Market capitalization: $2.7 billion
• Dividend yield: 15.4%
• Consensus analyst rating: 1.83 (Buy)

Dynex Capital (DX) is the longest-tenured mREIT, founded in 1987. And it’s explicitly an “agency” mREIT, which means it deals in mortgages and MBSes from government agencies such as Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae. In fact, its portfolio is 97% agency residential MBSes (RMBSes), and most of the remainder is agency commercial MBSes (CMBSes).

Keefe, Bruyette and Woods, whose analysts rate Dynex at Outperform, was broadly bullish on agency MBS sectors heading into 2026. Agency MBS spreads tightened in the back half of 2025, but KBW believed spreads would benefit from a steeper yield curve as the Federal Reserve cut rates. The year hasn’t played out that way so far, but KBW still remains upbeat about DX.

“We still believe a modestly steepened yield curve and stable rate environment is a generally constructive backdrop for financials,” KBW wrote recently. “We … remain fairly constructive on agency MBS REITs and remain [outperform] on [Annaly Capital Management, NLY] and DX.”

KBW is just one of a handful of analyst outfits that cover Dynex, which is typical for the mREIT industry. Still, among these few pros, the bulls are the majority—DX has four Buys versus two Holds and no Sells.

Dynex pays a monthly dividend, and a generous one at that—well more than 15% as I write this. However, mortgage REITs tend to have shakier dividend histories than traditional stocks and even equity REITs, and DX is no exception. Its dividend was hacked away by 85% between 2012 and 2020, to 13¢ per share monthly. But things are looking up recently: The company finally raised its dividend in mid-2024, to 15¢, then again in Feburary 2025, to 17¢.

Still, that payout history is an important reminder that double-digit yields are hardly risk-free.

Related: The 16 Best ETFs to Buy for a Prosperous 2026

If You’re Still Looking for High Yields, Consider Short-Term Alternative Investments

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Alternative investments is a catch-all term for any investment that doesn’t fall into the categories of stocks, bonds, or cash. It covers a wide variety of investments, from real estate to fine art to sneakers, and it has become increasingly popular as fintech services have opened up once-restrictive markets to the individual retail investor.

Often, because of the less transparent nature of these investments, they’re limited toward investors with more financial resources and understanding, namely accredited investors. These investors meet certain financial requirements (or qualify with recognized credentials) and can gain access to investments that can offer compelling risk-reward characteristics.

Below, we highlight a few options that can also deliver high yields:

EquityMultiple’s Alpine Notes (Accredited investors only)

EquityMultiple’s Alpine Notes are a savings alternative with competitive rates of return on three-, six-, and nine-month notes, providing another means of conservative diversification and short-term yield. Compared to the commercial real estate crowdfunding platform’s other investment offerings, these notes are extremely short-term in nature, and thus an optimal choice for EquityMultiple users who want better liquidity.

Percent private credit (Accredited investors only)

Percent has built a way for retail accredited investors to access a wide range of private credit opportunities with a clear view into their performance through its innovative tools and comprehensive market data. That allows investors to make better-informed decisions, source and compare opportunities, and monitor performance with ease. This platform also provides access to an alternative investment that’s a little more liquid than other alts, with some debt investments only lasting nine months, with liquidity available after the very first month in some cases.

The service targets annualized returns on unsecured notes between 12% to 18% on average and up to 20%. And while investment minimums vary, many Percent opportunities require only $500 to invest.

First National Realty Partners (Accredited investors only)

First National Realty Partners (FNRP) is one of the fastest-growing vertically integrated commercial real estate investment firms in the United States. It’s also focused on a very particular niche: grocery-anchored commercial real estate.

FNRP’s team leverages relationships with top-tier national-brand tenants—including Kroger, Walmart, Aldi, Target, and Whole Foods—to provide investors with access to institutional-quality CRE deals both on- and off-market. FNRP offers private placements that only an accredited investor can access.