Dividend stocks are a favorite among investors for good reason. They provide a steady income stream and offer a promising avenue for total return. Total return, a comprehensive measure of investment performance, encompasses interest, capital gains, dividends, and distributions realized over time. At 247 Wall St., we consistently highlight the long-term potential of total return to our readers, as it is one of the most effective ways to boost the prospects of overall investing success. Once again, total return is the collective increase in a stock’s value plus dividends. Safe stocks that pay reliable 5% dividends are hard to find, but five companies offer serious upside potential and the prized 5% dividend.
There are over 12,000 publicly traded stocks in the United States; not even the most intelligent investors with the best tools can find them all immediately. Many investors and traders typically maintain a small list of key stocks they follow when seeking capital gains or high-yield dividends. We decided to screen our 24/7 Wall St. high-yield database, looking for solid companies yielding at least 5% with solid dividend coverage. Five well-run companies hit our screens, and all look like timely buys now, and all have a Buy rating from top Wall Street firms we cover.
Why do we cover high-yield dividend stocks?
At 24/7 Wall St., we have closely followed dividend-paying stocks for over 15 years. With a growing audience of savvy Baby Boomers and retirees seeking safe income ideas that deliver more than the 10-year Treasury bond’s 4.26% bi-annual dividend, we have screened hundreds of stocks, looking for recurring, dependable dividend payouts and a degree of safety that allows for a good night’s sleep.
Bristol-Myers Squibb
Bristol Myers Squibb Co. (NYSE: BMY) is a global biopharmaceutical company committed to discovering, developing, and delivering innovative medicines for patients with serious diseases in areas such as oncology, hematology, immunology, cardiovascular disease, neuroscience, and other therapeutic areas. It remains a solid pharmaceutical stock to own in the long term, offering an outstanding entry point with a reliable dividend.
Its platforms comprise chemically synthesized or small-molecule drugs, including protein degraders, as well as biologics produced through biological processes. These platforms also encompass ADCs, CAR-T cell therapies, and radiopharmaceutical therapeutics.
Small-molecule drugs are typically administered orally in the form of tablets or capsules, although other drug delivery mechanisms are also employed. Biologics are usually administered through injections or by intravenous infusion.
CAR-T cell therapies are administered by intravenous infusion.
Its growth portfolio includes:
- Opdivo
- Opdivo Qvantig
- Orencia
- Yervoy
- Reblozyl
- Opdualag
Bristol-Myers Squibb’s legacy portfolio includes:
- Eliquis
- Revlimid
- Pomalyst/Imnovid
- Sprycel
- Abraxane
Jefferies has a Buy rating with a $68 target price.
British American Tobacco
This British multinational company manufactures and sells cigarettes and other tobacco and nicotine products. European giant British American Tobacco PLC (NYSE: BTI) is a consumer-centric, multi-category consumer goods company that pays shareholders a huge, dependable dividend.
The company provides tobacco and nicotine products. Its segments include:
- United States
- Asia Pacific
- Middle East
- Africa
- The Americas
- Europe
The company’s product categories include:
- Vapor
- Tobacco Heating Products (THPs)
- Modern Oral, Traditional Oral, and Combustible Cigarettes
Vapor products are handheld, battery-powered devices that heat a liquid (called an e-liquid) to produce an inhalable aerosol known as vapor. THPs are a new category of tobacco product designed to heat rather than burn tobacco.
Modern Oral products are smoke-free oral nicotine products, also known as nicotine pouches, designed for use in the mouth. Traditional oral products include snus and snuff.
British American Tobacco brands include:
- Vuse
- glo
- Velo
- Grizzly
- Dunhill
- Kent
- Lucky Strike
- Pall Mall
- Rothmans
- Newport
- Natural American Spirit
- Camel
- Vogue
- Viceroy
- Kool
- Peter Stuyvesant
- Craven A
- State Express 555
- Shuang Xi
BofA Securities has a Buy rating on the stock with a $58 target price.
Edison International
Trading near a 52-week low with one of the highest dividends in the utility sector, this is a strong idea for the rest of 2025. Edison International Inc. (NYSE: EIX) is an electric utility holding company focused on providing clean and reliable energy and energy services through its independent companies. It is the parent holding company of Southern California Edison Company (SCE) and Trio.
SCE is a public utility primarily engaged in the business of supplying and delivering electricity to an approximately 50,000 square mile area across Southern, Central, and Coastal California.
Trio is a global energy advisory firm providing integrated sustainability and energy advisory services to large commercial, industrial, and institutional organizations in North America and Europe.
Trio provides integrated strategy and implementation solutions in:
- Sustainability
- Renewables
- Energy procurement
- Conventional supply
- Energy optimization
- Transportation electrification
Barclays has an Overweight rating with a $65 target price.
Prudential Financial
Prudential Financial Inc. (NYSE: PRU) offers a range of insurance, investment management, and other financial products and services. With a rich dividend, this insurance and investment giant is a safe investment option for conservative investors. Prudential provides insurance, investment management, and other financial products and services in the United States and internationally.
It operates through five segments:
- PGIM
- Retirement Strategies
- Group Insurance
- Individual Life
- International Business segments
The PGIM segment offers investment management services and solutions related to public fixed income, public equity, real estate debt and equity, private credit, and other alternatives, as well as multi-asset class strategies, to institutional and retail clients, as well as its general account.
The Retirement Strategies segment provides a range of retirement investment and income products and services to retirement plan sponsors in the public, private, and not-for-profit sectors. It develops and distributes individual variable and fixed annuity products.
The Group Insurance segment offers:
- Various group life plans
- Long-term and short-term group disability
- Group corporate, bank, and trust-owned life insurance in the United States, primarily for institutional clients, for use in connection with employee and membership benefits plans
- Accidental death and dismemberment, and other supplemental health solutions
- Plan administration services in connection with its insurance coverages
The Individual Life segment develops and distributes variable life, universal life, and term life insurance products.
The International Businesses segment develops and distributes life insurance, retirement products, investment products, specific accident and health products, and advisory services. The company provides its products and services to individual and institutional customers through its proprietary and third-party distribution networks.
Jefferies has a Buy rating with a $152 price target.
Realty Income
Realty Income Corp. (NYSE: O) is a real estate investment trust that invests in free-standing, single-tenant commercial properties. This is an ideal stock for growth and income investors looking for a safer contrarian idea for the rest of 2025. Realty Income is an S&P 500 company that provides stockholders with dependable monthly income.
The company acquires and manages freestanding commercial properties that generate rental revenue under long-term net lease agreements with its commercial clients.
It is engaged in a single business activity: leasing property to clients, generally on a net basis. This business activity spans various geographic boundaries and encompasses a range of property types and clients across multiple industries.
The company owns or holds interests in approximately 15,621 properties in:
- All 50 United States
- The United Kingdom
- France
- Germany
- Ireland
- Italy
- Portugal
- Spain
With clients doing business in 89 industries, its property types include: retail, industrial, gaming, and others, such as agriculture and office.
Its primary industry concentrations include:
- Grocery stores
- Convenience stores
- Dollar stores
- Drug stores
- Home improvement stores
- Restaurants
- Quick service
UBS has a Buy rating with a $62 price objective.
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