Passive Income Investors Are Buying 5 Well-Known High-Yield Stocks Near 52-Week Lows
When quality dividend stocks drift toward 52-week lows, patient income investors often find their best opportunities hiding in plain sight. Five household names are sitting at beaten-down prices right now, and the yields they are offering demand a closer look.
Investors love high-yield dividend stocks because they provide dependable passive income streams and an excellent opportunity for solid total return. Total return includes interest, capital gains, dividends, and distributions realized over time. In other words, the total return on an investment or portfolio consists of income and stock appreciation. At 24/7 Wall St., we have focused on dividend stocks for 20 years because, despite the stock market’s ups and downs, many people need reliable passive income streams to supplement their income from employment or other sources such as Social Security and pensions.
Let’s examine 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.
With the stock market trading near all-time highs, we screened our 24/7 Wall St. high-yield dividend stock research database for well-known companies trading at or near 52-week lows. Typically, quality well-known stocks fall for a variety of reasons. These include choppy earnings, sector competition, C-suite changes, and other factors. But as we saw with Intel (NASDAQ: INTC | INTC Price Prediction) and other large technology companies over the past year, sometimes sector leaders go dormant for a while, only to return with a vengeance and help patient investors ring the register.
Why Do We Cover High-Yield Dividend Stocks?
Since 1926, dividends have accounted for approximately 32% of the S&P 500’s total return, while capital appreciation has accounted for 68%. Therefore, sustainable dividend income and the potential for capital appreciation are essential to total return expectations. A study by Hartford Funds, in collaboration with Ned Davis Research, found that dividend stocks delivered an annualized return of 9.18% over the 50 years from 1973 to 2023. Over the same timeline, this was more than double the annualized return for non-payers (3.95%).
Here are five well-known companies paying reliable dividends that are trading at or near 52-week lows. While better suited to patient passive-income investors, they all have attributes that make them attractive now.
Clorox
With products that never go out of style, a 26% discount, a 0.74 price-to-fair-value ratio, and a massive 5.34% dividend, this is the perfect buy for conservative investors. Clorox (NYSE: CLX) is a multinational manufacturer and marketer of consumer and professional products. Despite some earnings turbulence in recent years, Clorox has maintained its dividend streak and is expected to reach 50 years in 2027. Clorox trades at roughly 15x earnings versus a 37x five-year average.
The company operates through four segments:
- Health and Wellness
- Household
- Lifestyle
- International
The Health and Wellness segment consists of cleaning, disinfecting, and professional products marketed and sold under these brands:
- Clorox
- Clorox2
- Pine-Sol
- Scentiva
- Tilex
- Liquid-Plumr
- Formula 409
Its Household segment consists of bags and wraps, cat litter, and grilling products marketed and sold under the Glad, Fresh Step, Scoop Away, and Kingsford brands in the United States. The Lifestyle segment consists of food, water-filtration, and natural personal care products marketed and sold under the Hidden Valley, Brita, and Burt’s Bees brands. International products consist of those sold outside the United States. Its products in this segment include laundry additives, home care products, bags and wraps, cat litter, water filtration products, and others.
Comcast
Comcast (NASDAQ: CMCSA) is an American multinational telecommunications and media conglomerate. With a dependable 4.98% yield, this is a solid idea now. This global media and technology conglomerate offers an 18-year dividend-growth streak, averaging ~7.5% annual payout growth over five years. Weakness reflects broader cord-cutting and streaming competition pressures, which it is addressing with a corporate spin-off.
It operates through four segments:
- Residential Connectivity & Platforms
- Business Services Connectivity
- Media, Studios
- Theme Parks
The Residential Connectivity & Platforms segment provides residential broadband and wireless connectivity services, residential and business video services, Sky-branded entertainment television networks, and advertising. The Business Services Connectivity segment offers connectivity services for small business locations, including broadband, wireline voice, and wireless services. It also offers solutions for medium-sized customers, larger enterprises, and small business connectivity services in the United Kingdom.
The Media segment operates NBCUniversal’s television and streaming business, including:
- National and regional cable networks
- The NBC and Telemundo broadcast networks
- Owned local broadcast television stations
- Peacock, a direct-to-consumer streaming service
It also operates international television networks comprising the Sky Sports networks and other digital properties. The Studios segment operates NBCUniversal and Sky film and television studio production and distribution operations.
The Theme Parks segment operates Universal theme parks in:
- Orlando, Florida
- Hollywood, California
- Osaka, Japan
- Beijing, China
Comcast announced earlier this year that it is spinning off most of its NBCUniversal cable television networks into a new, independent public company called “SpinCo.” This new entity will include popular cable channels like USA Network, CNBC, MSNBC, Bravo, E!, Syfy, and Oxygen, along with digital assets like Fandango and Rotten Tomatoes. By separating these mature cable channels, Comcast aims to isolate its declining linear television business from its higher-growth core assets, which will remain under Comcast. These retained core businesses include the Xfinity broadband and wireless operations, the Peacock streaming service, NBC broadcast television, Universal Pictures film studio, and Universal theme parks.
Duke Energy
Duke Energy (NYSE: DUK) is an American electric power and natural gas holding company headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina. Headquartered in a growing region of the country, it pays a hefty 3.54% dividend, among the highest in the utility sector. Duke Energy and its subsidiaries operate as energy companies in the United States.
Its Electric Utilities and Infrastructure segment generates, transmits, distributes, and sells electricity in the Carolinas, Florida, and the Midwest. To generate electricity, Duke Energy uses the following:
- Coal
- Hydroelectric
- Natural gas
- Oil
- Solar and wind sources
- Renewables
- Nuclear fuel
This segment also sells electricity to municipalities, electric cooperative utilities, and load-serving entities.
The Gas Utilities and Infrastructure segment distributes natural gas to
- Residential
- Commercial
- Industrial
- Power generation natural gas customers
The segment also invests in pipeline transmission projects, renewable natural gas projects, and natural gas storage facilities.
General Mills
With products that never go out of style and a strong 6.37% dividend yield, this rebound story will reward patient investors. General Mills (NYSE: GIS) is a global manufacturer and marketer of branded consumer foods and has a P/E ratio of 9.23, suggesting it may be undervalued relative to the consumer staples sector average. The company generates strong free cash flow, typically over $2 billion annually, which supports the current dividend even amid softer sales.
Its segments include:
- North America Retail
- International
- North America Pet
- North America Foodservice
The North America Retail segment includes grocery stores, mass merchandisers, membership stores, natural food chains, drug, dollar, and discount chains, convenience stores, and e-commerce grocery providers. The International segment consists of retail and foodservice businesses outside the United States and Canada. Its product categories include super-premium ice cream and frozen desserts, meal kits, salty snacks, snack bars, dessert and baking mixes, and shelf-stable vegetables.
The North America Pet segment includes pet food products sold in the United States and Canada in national pet superstore chains, e-commerce retailers, and grocery stores. The North America Foodservice segment includes ready-to-eat cereals, snacks, and baking mixes.
VICI Properties
VICI Properties (NYSE: VICI) is a New York City-based real estate investment trust that specializes in casino and entertainment properties and pays a stellar dividend yield of 7.08%. This is one of Wall Street’s top picks in the net lease group and is ideal for more conservative investors seeking gaming exposure and a substantial dividend. VICI Properties is an S&P 500 experiential real estate investment trust with one of the largest portfolios of market-leading gaming, hospitality, and entertainment destinations, including three iconic entertainment facilities on the Las Vegas Strip:
- Caesars Palace Las Vegas
- MGM Grand
- The Venetian Resort Las Vegas
VICI Properties owns 93 experiential assets across a geographically diverse portfolio of 54 gaming properties and 39 other experiential properties across the United States and Canada. The portfolio comprises approximately 127 million square feet and features approximately 60,300 hotel rooms, as well as over 500 restaurants, bars, nightclubs, and sportsbooks. Gaming revenue has proven remarkably resilient in recent downturns, and its triple-net lease structure means it collects rent regardless of swings in tenant profitability.
Industry-leading gaming, leisure, and hospitality operators occupy its properties under these long-term, triple-net lease agreements.
VICI Properties has a growing array of real estate and financing partnerships with leading operators in other experiential sectors, including:
- Bowlero
- Cabot
- Canyon Ranch
- Chelsea Piers
- Great Wolf Resorts
- Homefield
- Kalahari Resorts
VICI Properties also owns four championship golf courses and 33 acres of undeveloped and underdeveloped land adjacent to the Las Vegas Strip.
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.
