Dividend stocks are a favorite among investors, especially Baby Boomers, for good reason. They provide a steady stream of passive income 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. Let’s examine the concept of total return. If you purchase a stock at $20 that pays a 3% dividend ($0.60 per share) and the price rises to $22 in a year, your total return is ($22 + $0.60 – $20) = 13%. This combines the price appreciation and the dividend received. One group of stocks we favor for Baby Boomers and others nearing retirement is the Dividend Champions, as they are ideal for total return and those seeking passive income.
We decided to re-explore Dividend Champions. Regular 24/7 Wall St. readers know that we often write about Dividend Aristocrats and Kings, but here’s the difference: Dividend Champions are companies that have raised their dividends for 25 years or longer and can be any size in terms of market cap. The Dividend Kings are companies that have raised their dividends for 50 years or more and can range from small-cap to large-cap. They don’t have to be in the S&P 500, like the Dividend Aristocrats.
The 2025 Dividend Champions comprise 133 stocks, and we screened the list to identify those with the highest dividend payouts for investors seeking solid and dependable passive income. Five companies in the group pay the highest dividends; a few will likely be new companies for investors to review. All are rated Buy at top Wall Street firms.
Why do we cover the Dividend Champions?
Companies that have paid and raised their dividends for 25 years or longer are the types that growth and income investors want to buy and hold in their long-term stock portfolios. These stocks are mostly conservative, and should we see a dramatic market correction, they will likely keep their ground much better than volatile technology names.
Universal Health Realty Income Trust
Yielding 7.62% and offering investors the opportunity to invest in healthcare, this stock makes a lot of sense now. Universal Health Realty Income Trust (NYSE: UHT) is a real estate investment trust that invests in healthcare and human service-related facilities, including:
- Acute care hospitals
- Behavioral healthcare hospitals
- Specialty facilities
- Free-standing emergency departments
- Childcare centers
- Medical/office buildings
The company has approximately 76 real estate investments or commitments located in 21 states in the United States consisting of six hospital facilities including three acute care and three behavioral healthcare; 60 medical/office buildings; four free-standing emergency departments; four preschool and childcare centers; one specialty facility located in Evansville, Indiana, and one property comprised of vacant land located in Chicago, Illinois.
Its facilities include McAllen Medical Center, Wellington Regional Medical Center, Aiken Regional Medical Center, Canyon Creek Behavioral Health, Clive Behavioral Health, Desert Valley Medical Center, and Danbury Medical Plaza.
Argus has a Buy rating with a $43 target price.
Altria
Altria Group Inc. (NYSE: MO) is one of the world’s largest producers and marketers of tobacco, cigarettes, and related products. This tobacco company offers value investors a 6.26% dividend yield, a compelling entry point, and a generous dividend. 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 N.V. (NYSE: BUD, the world’s largest brewer. Earlier this 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.
Stifel has a Buy rating with a $72 target price.
Enterprise Products Partners
Enterprise Products Partners L.P. (NYSE: EPD) is an American midstream natural gas and crude oil pipeline company headquartered in Houston, Texas. This company is one of the largest publicly traded energy partnerships, paying a reliable dividend of 6.79%. Enterprise Products Partners provides various midstream energy services, including:
- Gathering
- Processing
- Transporting and storing natural gas, natural gas liquids (NGL), and fractionation
- Import and export terminalling
- Offshore production platform services
The company has four reportable business segments:
- Natural Gas Pipelines and Services
- NGL Pipelines and Services
- Petrochemical Services
- Crude Oil Pipelines and Services
One reason many analysts like the stock might be its distribution coverage ratio. The company’s coverage ratio is well above 1x, making it relatively less risky among the MLP.
J.P. Morgan has an Overweight rating with a $38 price objective.
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 seeking a safer, contrarian investment for the remainder of 2025 with a 5.33% dividend paid monthly. 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 $66 target price.
Franklin Resources
Franklin Resources Inc. (NYSE: BEN) is among the most prominent global money managers. The firm markets mutual funds and institutional separate accounts under the Franklin, Templeton, and Mutual Series brands. At times, 50% of its sales are from outside the United States, an advantage given the maturing U.S. market.
Franklin Resources offers its products and services under the brands of:
- Franklin
- Templeton
- Franklin Mutual Series
- Franklin Bissett
- Fiduciary Trust
- Darby
- Balanced Equity Management
- K2
- LibertyShares
- Edinburgh Partners
The 2023-2025 bull market was a strong tailwind for the company; however, the recent sell-off has made the shares appear incredibly cheap. While withdrawals from baby boomers may be a concern, the path forward in 2026 also appears solid, as the shares have rebounded from their lows in April.
Goldman Sachs has a Buy rating with a $29 target price.
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