4 of the Safest Ultra-High-Yield Dividend Stocks You Can Confidently Buy Today
A big yield grabs attention, but a safe yield actually pays the bills. These four income stocks clear both hurdles, yielding above 6% while backing every payout with hard cash flow and years of consecutive raises.
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A big yield and a safe yield are two separate tests. Plenty of high payers pass the first and fail the second. The four names below pass both. Each one yields above 6% today and supports its payout with distribution coverage, free cash flow, a manageable balance sheet and years of raises. Even the lowest yielder in the group pays 6.16%, so investors don’t have to accept a smaller check to get safety.
Enterprise Products Partners Covers Its Ultra-High Yield Nearly 2 Times Over
Enterprise Products Partners (NYSE:EPD | EPD Price Prediction) yields 6.19% on its $2.24 annualized distribution, with units at $36.19. The units fell 8.08% over the past month. That drop raised the yield while the payout kept growing.
Dividend safety: Operational distributable cash flow reached a new high of $2.3 billion in the second quarter, covering the cash distribution 1.9 times. After paying $1.2 billion to unitholders, Enterprise kept $1.1 billion for growth projects and buybacks. Over the 12 months ended June 30, distributions and buybacks together took 56% of adjusted cash flow from operations. Roughly 97% of its debt has fixed rates, at a weighted average cost of 4.7%, and leverage stands at the partnership’s 3.0 net target. On track record, the company called 2025 its 27th consecutive year of distribution growth. The latest quarterly payout of $0.56 is up 2.8% from a year earlier.
Bull case: Enterprise has $6.5 billion of organic growth projects under construction. They include an LPG export terminal expansion due by year-end and two new Permian gas plants. Management said discretionary free cash flow for the year “has the potential to approach the $1 billion area,” which leaves room for buybacks on top of the distribution.
Risk: About $200 million of the second-quarter benefit came from a spike in global demand during April and May. Management said those gaps have “largely normalized,” so upcoming quarters may compare less favorably.
MPLX Pays the Biggest Yield Here and Has Promised More Raises
MPLX (NYSE:MPLX) yields 7.64% on its $4.306 annualized distribution, with units at $56.39. That’s the highest yield in the group.
Dividend safety: Distributable cash flow reached $1.45 billion in the second quarter. Management is aiming a coverage ratio of 1.3 for 2026, 2027 and beyond, and said “2027, we’re not looking for inorganic M&A to be able to meet that.” Leverage is 3.7x, below the 4.0x target. The payout history backs up the growth story. The quarterly distribution rose from $0.705 to $0.775, then $0.85, $0.9565 and now $1.0765.
Bull case: MPLX raised its distribution 12.5% in each of the last two years, and management said, “We anticipate growing our distribution at this rate again in 2026 and in 2027.” More than 90% of growth capital goes to natural gas and NGL infrastructure. Adjusted EBITDA growth should be back-half weighted as Blackcomb, the BANGL expansion and the Titan expansion come online. Sponsor Marathon Petroleum (NYSE:MPC) also benefits from those raises, which keeps the parent’s interests lined up with unitholders.
Risk: Second-quarter interest expense rose to $291 million from $229 million because of acquisition debt. That leaves less cash flow growth available for distribution raises.
Altria Group Just Raised Its Payout Again on Cash Flow That Still Covers It
Altria Group (NYSE:MO) yields 6.59% on a $4.44 annualized dividend, with shares at $67.36. The newest quarterly dividend of $1.11, up from $1.06, will be paid on October 9.
Dividend safety: Altria produced $9.07 billion of free cash flow in 2025 and paid $6.96 billion in dividends, a payout of about 77% of free cash flow. The new annualized rate equals about 79% of the low end of 2026 adjusted EPS guidance, which is $5.61 to $5.72. Debt-to-EBITDA was 1.9 times, in line with the roughly two times aiming. Second-quarter operating cash flow came in at -$51 million, but that is a seasonal dip: the same quarter showed -$75 million in 2024, before a full-year total of $8.75 billion. On track record, Altria said its 2025 raise was its 60th dividend increase in the past 56 years.
Bull case: Altria has pricing power. Smokeable price realization was 4.5%, and Marlboro held 59.6% of the premium segment. Second-quarter adjusted EPS of $1.48 rose 2.8%. Management called the dividend its “primary vehicle” for shareholder returns. It also said it typically has about a billion dollars of excess cash left after paying the dividend.
Risk: Cigarette volume is shrinking. Industry volumes fell an estimated 5% in the second quarter, and Marlboro’s overall retail share dropped 1.5 share points as smokers traded down to discount brands.
Verizon Communications Pays Its Dividend With Less Than Half Its Free Cash Flow
Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) yields 6.16% on a $2.83 annualized dividend, with shares at $45.93. The stock fell 8.56% over the past month, which raised the yield back above the ultra-high-yield line.
Dividend safety: Second-quarter free cash flow was $6.43 billion against $2.954 billion in dividends paid, a payout of about 46%. For full-year 2025, free cash flow of $20.13 billion covered $11.48 billion in dividends, a payout of about 57%. Verizon has raised its 2026 free cash flow guidance to $21.94 billion to $22.14 billion. The January raise marked the company’s 20th consecutive year of dividend increases. The chief financial officer called the payout “still ironclad for us.”
The case for upside: the operating trend is improving. Verizon added 184,000 postpaid phone customers, compared with a loss of 9,000 a year earlier. The adjusted EBITDA margin expanded to 40.1% from 37.1%. Adjusted EPS guidance went up to $4.99 to $5.04. Fiber broadband connections reached 10.9 million after the Frontier deal, adding a second recurring cash stream next to wireless.
Risk: Total unsecured debt is $136.5 billion. Net unsecured leverage rose to 2.5x from 2.2x at the end of 2025, and the company is aiming 2.0 to 2.25 times during 2027.
Four Ultra-High Yields Backed by Cash and a Record of Raises
Together, these four names make a diversified income basket. It includes two fee-based pipeline partnerships, a tobacco company with strong pricing power and a wireless and fiber network that generates steady cash. All four yield above 6%, and in each case the payout is supports by coverage ratios, free cash flow or a long record of raises. That coverage is the whole point: double-digit yields without those safeguards tend to end badly, and we laid out the seven warning signs of a dividend about to be cut in a free report here: Dividend Traps. MPLX offers the strongest growth commitment and Verizon the largest cash buffer. Enterprise and Altria have the longest histories of raising their payouts. Over the next few months, monitor MPLX’s next distribution declaration and Verizon’s progress on cutting debt.
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Chris Lange is a financial and geopolitical writer with more than a decade of experience covering a myriad of topics. He has published thousands of articles for 24/7 Wall St., with past coverage focused heavily on stocks, IPOs, healthcare, defense, global affairs, and technology.
His work has been quoted, or referenced by a number of outlets including Business Insider, USA Today, Yahoo Finance, MSN, The Motley Fool, and many other publications. A graduate of Southwestern University, he studied business with a focus on investments and has previous experience in banking and startups.
When not reading or writing the news, he is following his passion for Lacrosse, playing chess, or building solar projects with his dad.
