[cnxvideo id=”655426″ placement=”ros”]The Dow Jones Industrial Average may be an antiquated index, but it is perhaps still the most widely-recognized stock index in the world. One thing that all 30 of the Dow stocks have in common is that they usually all pay dividends. Big dividends.
24/7 Wall St. has studied the 5 highest-yielding Dow stocks. Try this on for size: 12 of the 30 stocks yield 3% or more, and over half out-yielded the 30-year Treasury bond. So – which companies have the highest dividends in the Dow?
1. Verizon
First on the list is Verizon with its 4.4% yield. The #1 used to be AT&T, but Apple replaced AT&T in the Dow. Verizon owns all of Verizon Wireless, as well as AOL – with media and advertising ambitions ahead.
2. Chevron
Second on the list of Dow dividends is Chevron at 4.2%. It’s hard to get excited about oil these days, but Chevron pledged to grow its dividend — even if it has to use its credit lines.
3. Caterpillar
Caterpillar may be suffering from slower infrastructure and earth-moving orders, but’s 4% yield ranks third on the list. Not even global weakness lasts forever, and a 4% yield pays investors to wait for better times.
4. Cisco Systems
Cisco Systems is fourth on the list of the Dow stocks with the highest dividend yields. Its 3.8% yield is higher than all tech stocks in the Dow. Cisco dominates networking and communications equipment – and it has bought back close $100 billion in stock over the years.
5. Pfizer
Pfizer ranks fifth on the list of the highest Dow dividends. Shares of the maker of Viagra and Lipitor yields 3.7%, beating out rival Dow stock Merck. Maybe Pfizer can’t move overseas after all to save on taxes, but investors get a handsome yield.
Investors have revered Dow stocks for generations – maybe because they pay large steady dividends.
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