Boomers Discovered the Dividend Champions and Are Buying 5 Highest-Yielding Stocks Hand Over Fist
Some investors have quietly built decades of rising income by owning stocks most people have never heard of, and five Dividend Champions with yields stretching past 7% are now drawing serious attention from Wall Street analysts.
The term “Dividend Champions” refers to publicly traded companies that have consistently increased their dividend payouts to shareholders for at least 25 consecutive years. Investors use this designation to identify companies with a long history of financial stability and a commitment to returning value to shareholders through regular dividend increases. The key for investors looking at this group is that Dividend Champions stocks do not have to be in the S&P 500 and can be of any market capitalization size. This opens the door to many other stocks that have paid reliable dividends for over 25 years, and it considerably increases the number of companies investors can choose from.
Key characteristics of Dividend Champions include:
- Long Track Record: These companies have achieved at least 25 consecutive dividend increases, demonstrating their resilience and consistent performance across various economic cycles.
- Financial Health: Dividend Champions are typically financially strong, with robust cash flows and sustainable business models that support ongoing dividend growth.
- Investor Appeal: These stocks appeal to income-focused investors, particularly retirees seeking reliable and growing income streams.
- Market Presence: While many Dividend Champions are large, well-established companies, the list can also include mid-cap and smaller firms that have demonstrated long-term dividend growth.
We decided to explore Dividend Champions, and regular 24/7 Wall St. readers know we often write about Dividend Aristocrats and Dividend Kings, so here’s the difference. Dividend Champions are companies that have raised their dividends for 25 years or longer, regardless of market capitalization (small-cap to large-cap), and they don’t have to be included in the S&P 500, unlike the Dividend Aristocrats.
We screened the list looking for the high-yielding stocks with the healthiest payout ratios, and five top companies made the grade. All are rated Buy at top Wall Street companies.
Altria
Altria (NYSE:MO | MO Price Prediction) is one of the world’s largest producers and marketers of cigarettes and other tobacco-related products. This tobacco stock offers value investors a solid entry point and a 6.52% dividend yield. Altria manufactures and sells smokable and oral tobacco products in the United States primarily to wholesalers, including distributors and large retail organizations, such as chain stores.
The company primarily sells cigarettes 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
Altria used to own over 10% of Anheuser-Busch InBev (NYSE: BUD), the world’s largest brewer. In March of 2024, 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 in the fall of 2025 by 3.9%, from $1.02 to $1.06 per share, marking its 57th consecutive dividend increase.
UBS has a Buy rating with a $79 target price.
Enterprise Products Partners
This top midstream giant is an American midstream natural gas and crude oil pipeline company headquartered in Houston, Texas. Enterprise Products Partners (NYSE:EPD) is one of the most extensive publicly traded energy partnerships and pays a very reliable 5.80% dividend. The company’s debt-to-EBITDA ratio ranges from 3.1x to 3.4x, which is moderate for a midstream energy company, and its interest coverage ratio is 5x.
Enterprise Products Partners generates strong free cash flow, with operating cash flow of about $8.8 billion, resulting in about $4.2 billion in free cash flow annually after deducting capital expenditures. Another significant benefit for shareholders is that most corporate debt is fixed-rate, limiting the risk of rising interest rates.
This company 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 MLPs.
UBS has a Buy rating and a $45 target price.
Enbridge
Enbridge (NYSE:ENB) owns and operates pipelines throughout Canada and the United States. This off-the-radar Canadian company is poised to break out to new highs and pays a rich 7.57% dividend yield. The company announced its 31st consecutive annual dividend increase in 2026, lifting the payout by another 3%, and has paid dividends for over 70 years.
With roughly 98% of its annual earnings backed by long-term, fixed-rate contracts and regulated rate structures, the company stands out as one of the most defensive and reliable plays in the energy infrastructure sector. The company is the largest natural gas utility in North America by volume, delivering about 9.3 billion cubic feet daily to 7.1 million customers with a toll-road-like model that’s less exposed to price swings.
The company operates through five segments:
- The Liquids Pipelines segment operates pipelines and related terminals in Canada and the United States to transport various grades of crude oil and other liquid hydrocarbons.
- The Gas Transmission and Midstream segment invests in natural gas pipelines and gathering and processing facilities in Canada and the United States.
- The Gas Distribution and Storage segment is involved in natural gas utility operations. It serves residential, commercial, and industrial customers in Ontario, and it has natural gas distribution and energy transportation activities in Quebec.
- The Renewable Power Generation segment operates power-generating assets, including wind, solar, geothermal, and waste heat recovery facilities, as well as transmission assets, in North America and Europe.
- The Energy Services segment provides energy marketing services to refiners, producers, and other customers. It also offers physical commodity marketing and logistical services in Canada and the United States.
Royal Bank of Canada has an Outperform rating and an $84 target price.
NNN Reit
This off-the-radar real estate investment trust offers compelling value at current levels and pays a solid 5.24% dividend. NNN REIT (NYSE:NNN) acquires, owns, invests in, and develops properties that are leased primarily to tenants under long-term, net leases, and are primarily held for investment.
The company invests primarily in retail real estate that is typically well located within each local market for its tenants’ retail lines of trade. Its property portfolio includes:
- Convenience stores
- Automotive service
- Restaurants—full and limited service
- Entertainment
- Dealerships
- Health and fitness
- Theaters
- Automotive parts
- Equipment rental
- Wholesale clubs
- Drug stores
- Home improvement
- Medical service providers
- Early childhood education
- Pet supplies and services
- Discount retail
- Furniture
- Automobile auctions
- Wholesale
- Travel plazas
The company owns over 3,774 properties in 50 states with a gross leasable area of approximately 40.4 million square feet and a weighted average remaining lease term of 10.1 years.
Argus has a Buy rating with a $50 target price.
Realty Income
Realty Income (NYSE:O) is a real estate investment trust that has paid monthly dividends consistently for years. It is an ideal stock for growth and income investors seeking a safer contrarian idea for the rest of 2026. The S&P 500 company and top-rated REIT acquires and manages freestanding commercial properties that generate rental revenue under long-term net lease agreements with its commercial clients. Realty Income owns over 15,500 properties with a 98.9% occupancy rate across 1,761 tenants in 92 industries. Many of these are in strong categories like grocery stores and dollar stores. Occupancy has never fallen below 96.6% this century, even during the Great Recession and the COVID-19 pandemic.
It is engaged in a single business activity: leasing property to clients, generally on a net basis. This business activity spans multiple geographic regions and includes a range of property types and clients across multiple industries. Widely considered the gold standard of monthly dividend stocks, Realty Income has been paying dividends since 1969 and now has a 5.23% yield. As of early 2026, it has paid 667 consecutive monthly dividends and increased its dividend 132 times since its 1994 IPO.
The company owns or holds interests in approximately 15,621 properties in all 50 states and:
- United Kingdom
- France
- Germany
- Ireland
- Italy
- Portugal
- Spain
With clients operating in 89 industries, its property types include retail, industrial, gaming, and other categories such as agriculture and office. Its primary industry concentrations include:
- Grocery stores
- Convenience stores
- Dollar stores
- Drug stores
- Home improvement stores
- Restaurants
- Quick service
Royal Bank of Canada has an Outperform rating and a $70 target.
Contact [email protected] for any questions or corrections.
Lee Jackson has covered Wall Street analysts' equity and debt research and equity strategy daily for 24/7 Wall St. since 2012. His broad, diverse career, including a stint as creative services director at an NBC affiliate in Austin, Texas, gives him unique insight into the financial industry.
Lee Jackson's journey in the financial industry spans more than 30 years, including nearly two decades as an institutional equity salesperson at Bear Stearns, Lehman Brothers, and Morgan Stanley. His career spanned pivotal sell-side Wall Street events, from the dot-com rise and bubble to the Long-Term Capital Management debacle, 9/11, and the Great Recession of 2008. This reflects his resilience and adaptability amid market volatility.
Lee Jackson’s practical financial industry experience, gained through a career at some of the biggest banks and brokerage firms, is complemented by a lifetime of writing across various platforms. This unique combination allows him to shed light on the intricacies of Wall Street in a way only someone with deep insider experience and knowledge can. Moreover, his extensive network across Wall Street continues to provide direct access for him and 24/7 Wall St., a privilege few firms enjoy.
Since 2012, Jackson’s work for 24/7 Wall St. has been featured in Barron’s, Yahoo Finance, MarketWatch, Business Insider, TradingView, Real Money, The Street, Seeking Alpha, Benzinga, and other media outlets. He attended the prestigious Cranbrook Schools in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, and has a degree in broadcasting from the Specs Howard School of Media Arts.
