Investors love dividend stocks, especially high-yield varieties, because they offer a significant income stream and have substantial total return potential. Total return includes interest, capital gains, dividends, and distributions realized over time. In other words, the total return on an investment or a portfolio consists of income and stock appreciation. For example, if you buy a stock at $20 that pays a 3% dividend, and it goes up to $22 in a year, your total return is 13%—10% for the increase in stock price and 3% for the dividends paid. Baby Boomers seeking a dependable income and some growth to combat inflation can rely on five great companies. All offer excellent entry points, yield 4% or more, are Buy-rated on Wall Street, and all are among our top high-yield picks for September.
For Baby Boomers seeking retirement income, “safe” high-yield stocks can be a good idea, but they require a careful approach due to their specific risks. While they can provide attractive passive income streams and growth potential, retirees need to prioritize stability over chasing the highest yield, which can often be a warning sign of a company in distress. A diversified, balanced portfolio including both dividend stocks and less volatile assets is generally recommended over relying solely on high-yield investments. We suggest using a barbell approach, balancing high-yield stocks with safer income options, such as short-term Treasury bills or bonds. Our favorite idea for this component is the SPDR Bloomberg 1-3 Month T-Bill ETF (NYSE: BIL).
Why do we cover high-yield dividend stocks?
While not suited for everybody, those trying to build strong passive income streams can do exceptionally well with some of these top companies in their portfolios. Paired with more conservative blue-chip dividend giants, investors can employ a barbell approach, as we noted, to generate substantial passive income streams.
Altria
Altria Group Inc. (NYSE: MO) is one of the world’s largest producers and marketers of cigarettes and tobacco-related products. This tobacco company offers value investors a great entry point. Altria manufactures and sells smokable and oral tobacco products in the United States through its subsidiaries.
The company provides cigarettes primarily under the Marlboro brand, as well as:
- Cigars and pipe tobacco, principally under the Black & Mild and Middleton brands
- Moist smokeless tobacco and snus products under the Copenhagen, Skoal, Red Seal, and Husky brands
- on! Oral nicotine pouches
- e-vapor products under the NJOY ACE brand
It sells its tobacco products primarily to wholesalers, including distributors and large retail organizations, such as chain stores.
Altria used to own over 10% of Anheuser-Busch InBev S.A. (NYSE: BUD), the world’s largest brewer. Last year, the company sold 35 million of its 197 million shares through a global secondary offering. That represents 18% of its holdings but still leaves 8% of the outstanding shares in its back pocket. Altria also announced a $2.4 billion stock repurchase plan partially funded by the sale.
Altria increased its quarterly dividend earlier this year by 4.1%, from $0.98 to $1.02 per share, marking its 59th dividend increase in the past 55 years.
Bank of America has a Buy rating with a $72 target price.
Chevron
Chevron Corp. (NYSE: CVX) is an American multinational energy company that is predominantly specialized in oil and gas. This integrated giant is a safer option for investors looking to position themselves in the energy sector and pays a substantial dividend, which was raised by 5% earlier this year. Chevron operates integrated energy and chemicals businesses worldwide through two segments.
The Upstream segment is involved in the following:
- Exploration, development, production, and transportation of crude oil and natural gas
- Processing, liquefaction, transportation, and regasification associated with liquefied natural gas
- Transportation of crude oil through pipelines, and transportation, storage
- Marketing of natural gas, as well as operating a gas-to-liquids plant
The Downstream segment engages in:
- Refining crude oil into petroleum products
- Marketing crude oil, refined products, and lubricants
- Manufacturing and marketing renewable fuels
- Transporting crude oil and refined products by pipeline, marine vessel, motor equipment, and rail car
- Manufacturing and marketing of commodity petrochemicals, plastics for industrial uses, and fuel and lubricant additives
It also involves cash management, debt financing, insurance operations, real estate, and technology businesses.
Chevron announced in late 2023 that it had entered into a definitive agreement with Hess Corp. (NYSE: HES) to acquire all of the outstanding shares of Hess in an all-stock transaction valued at $53 billion, or $171 per share based on Chevron’s closing price on October 20, 2023. Under the terms of the agreement, Hess shareholders will receive 1.0250 shares of Chevron for each Hess share. The transaction’s total enterprise value, including debt, is $60 billion. The Federal Trade Commission approved the deal last October, and it is expected to close this fall.
UBS has a Buy rating with a huge $197 target price.
Comerica
Based in Dallas, this fast-growing mid-cap banking center giant pays a substantial dividend and may offer one of the best investment ideas in the financial sector now. Comerica Inc. (NYSE: CMA) offers a range of financial products and services.
The company operates through:
- Commercial banking
- Retail banking
- Wealth management
- Finance segments
The Commercial Bank segment offers:
- Commercial loans and lines of credit
- Deposits
- Cash management
- Capital market products
- International trade finance
- Letters of credit
- Foreign exchange management services
- Loan syndication services
- Payment and card services for small and middle-market businesses, multinational corporations, and governmental entities
The Retail Bank segment provides:
- Personal financial services, such as consumer lending
- Consumer deposit gathering
- Mortgage loan origination and various
- Consumer products that include deposit accounts, installment loans, credit cards, student loans, and home equity lines of credit
- Residential mortgage loans and commercial products and services to micro-businesses
The Wealth Management segment offers products and services comprising:
- Fiduciary
- Private banking
- Retirement
- Investment management and advisory
- Investment banking and brokerage services
- Annuity products and life, disability, and long-term care insurance products
The Finance segment is involved in securities portfolio management and asset and liability management activities.
Comerica operates in:
- Texas
- California
- Michigan
- Arizona
- Florida
- Canada
- Mexico
Jefferies has a Buy rating with a $75 price objective.
Pfizer
This pharmaceutical giant was established in 1849 in New York by two German entrepreneurs. This top pharmaceutical stock was a massive winner in the COVID-19 vaccine sweepstakes, but has been crushed over the last two years as many people have not received boosters. Pfizer Inc. (NYSE: PFE) discovers, develops, manufactures, markets, distributes, and sells biopharmaceutical products worldwide. It pays a dependable dividend, which has risen yearly for the past 14 years.
The company offers medicines and vaccines in various therapeutic areas, including:
- Cardiovascular, metabolic, and women’s health under the Premarin family and Eliquis brands
- Biologics, small molecules, immunotherapies, and biosimilars under the Ibrance, Xtandi, Sutent, Inlyta, Retacrit, Lorbrena, and Braftovi brands
- Sterile injectable and anti-infective medicines and oral COVID-19 treatment under the Sulperazon, Medrol, Zavicefta, Zithromax, Vfend, Panzyga, and Paxlovid brands
Pfizer also provides medicines and vaccines in various therapeutic areas, such as:
- Pneumococcal disease, meningococcal disease, and tick-borne encephalitis
- COVID-19 under the Comirnaty/BNT162b2, Nimenrix, FSME/IMMUN-TicoVac, Trumenba, and the Prevnar family brands
- Biosimilars for chronic immune and inflammatory diseases under the Xeljanz, Enbrel, Inflectra, Eucrisa/Staquis, and Cibinqo brands
- Amyloidosis, hemophilia, and endocrine diseases under the Vyndaqel/Vyndamax, BeneFIX, and Genotropin brands
Pfizer anticipates full-year 2025 revenues in the range of $61.0 to $64.0 billion. This includes the expectation that revenues from COVID-19 products in 2025 will be broadly consistent with those in 2024, after excluding approximately $1.2 billion of non-recurring revenue for Paxlovid in 2024.
Jefferies has a Buy rating, accompanied by a $33 target price.
Verizon
Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE: VZ), commonly known as Verizon, is an American multinational telecommunications company that continues to offer tremendous value. It trades at 9.13 times its estimated 2026 earnings and is up almost 10% in 2025. Verizon provides a range of communications, technology, information, and entertainment products and services to consumers, businesses, and government entities worldwide.
It operates in two segments:
- Verizon Consumer Group
- Verizon Business Group
The Consumer segment provides wireless services across the United States through Verizon and TracFone networks, as well as through wholesale and other arrangements.
It also provides fixed wireless access (FWA) broadband through its wireless networks and related equipment and devices, such as:
- Smartphones
- Tablets
- Smartwatches and other wireless-enabled connected devices
The segment also offers wireline services in the Mid-Atlantic and northeastern United States through its fiber-optic network, Verizon Fios product portfolio, and copper-based network.
The Business segment provides wireless and wireline communications services and products, including:
- FWA broadband
- Data
- Video and conferencing
- Corporate networking
- Security and managed network
- Local and long-distance voice
Network access services to deliver various IoT services and products to businesses, government customers, and wireless and wireline carriers in the United States and internationally.
Tigress Financial has a Buy rating and a price target of $56.
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