5 High-Yield Dividend Stocks Built to Beat a 5.31% Treasury

The 10-year Treasury yield closed at 5.31% as of October 5, 2026, the high of the past month. Any dividend stock has to clear that bar. The five names below try to clear it with cash flow that comes from contracts: decades-long triple-net leases, monthly wireless and fiber bills, and fee-based pipeline volumes. Dividend safety comes first in each entry. A big yield only counts when the payout is covered, the balance sheet can carry it, and the dividend record shows how management acts under pressure.

VICI Properties: An 8% Yield Driven Mostly by a Falling Stock

VICI Properties (NYSE:VICI) offers a forward dividend of $1.84 annualized. At a share price of $22.62, that works out to a very high yield of 8.13%. Most of that yield comes from the share price. The stock is down 24.93% over the past year, 15.28% year to date and 9.32% in the past month alone. Over the same stretch, the dividend rose only slightly. Investors have been marking the stock down on concerns about a shifting gaming landscape and softer Las Vegas travel .

Dividend safety read: The fundamentals look much calmer than the chart. Management raised full-year 2026 AFFO guidance to $2.45 to $2.47 per diluted share. Against the forward dividend, that puts the payout at about 74.8% of the guidance center. The portfolio is 100% occupied, with a 39.6-year weighted average lease term and 2.0% annual escalators on most leases. The board raised the quarterly dividend from $0.45 to $0.46, payable October 8, 2026. The dividend record shows at least one increase in every year from 2018 through 2026, with flat quarters in between.

Bull case: Q2 AFFO came in at $0.62 per share (+4.6% YoY), and VICI added three tenants, bringing the total to 16. GAAP EPS of $0.48 missed the $0.71 estimate, but the miss came from a $271.1M non-cash credit-loss charge, so cash flow was unaffected. The average analyst target is $31.67. Chief Executive Edward Pitoniak said “VICI’s partner-driven model will continue to generate attractive, durable growth.”

Risk: Two tenants dominate the rent roll. Caesars Entertainment accounts for about 38% of rent and MGM Resorts for about 32%, and total debt is about $17.2B. If Las Vegas weakness reaches tenant balance sheets, the market will keep marking down the stock.

Omega Healthcare Investors: First Dividend Raise in Years With Coverage to Back It

Omega Healthcare Investors (NYSE:OHI) raised its quarterly dividend to $0.68 from $0.67, which puts the annualized forward payout at $2.72. At $44.89, the high yield is 6.06%. This yield has held up while the stock rose. Shares are up 16.41% over the past year.

Dividend safety read: Full-year AFFO guidance is now $3.22 to $3.26 per diluted share, which puts the payout at about 84.0% of the center. Coverage is the tightest on this list, but it is improving. Q2 funds available for distribution rose 6.3% to $0.78 per share. Operator EBITDAR coverage climbed to 1.65x from 1.55x. Omega held the dividend at $0.67 from the January 2020 ex-date through early 2026. It never cut through the pandemic, and its record of quarterly payments goes back to 1999.

Bull case: Q2 revenue rose 16.2% YoY to $328.2M, the company’s fifth consecutive earnings beat. Omega invested $126M in Q2 and another $93M in July, including its first U.K. care-home acquisition. Retiring CEO Taylor Pickett called the current environment “the most favorable operating backdrop that I have known in my career.”

Risk: Operator Genesis Healthcare is in Chapter 11 with $148.5M in loans outstanding. A CEO transition and Medicaid reimbursement policy are also live variables for a skilled-nursing landlord.

W. P. Carey: Steady Quarterly Raises Since the Reset

W. P. Carey (NYSE:WPC) declared a quarterly dividend of $0.95, payable October 15, 2026. The annualized forward rate is $3.80, a high yield of 5.94% at $63.93. Part of that yield comes from a recent 7.83% one-month decline.

Dividend safety read: AFFO guidance was raised to $5.19 to $5.27 per share, so the dividend takes about 72.7% of the center, the most conservative REIT payout here. Net leverage relative to EBITDA is 5.5x, and 95% of debt is fixed-rate at a weighted average of 3.2%. W. P. Carey cut its quarterly payout from $1.071 to $0.86 in late 2023 after selling office properties. Since then it has raised the dividend every quarter.

Bull case: Q2 AFFO of $1.34 beat the $1.24 estimate. Occupancy is 98.5%, and 47.8% of rent is tied to CPI escalators, a built-in inflation hedge when Treasury yields are climbing. Investment volume reached $1.3B year to date. CEO Jason Fox pointed to “AFFO growth now above 5% at the midpoint.”

Risk: Impairment charges were $79.4M in Q2, and European same-store rental income fell 2.6% in constant currency.

AT&T: Lowest Yield Here, Deepest Free Cash Flow Cushion

AT&T (NYSE:T | T Price Prediction) pays $0.2775 per quarter, or $1.11 a year. The $24.73 share price gives a 4.49% yield, below the 10-year Treasury. AT&T wins its spot on dividend safety and total return.

Dividend safety read: Full-year 2026 free cash flow guidance is $18B+. With about $7.61B in annual dividend cost, payouts account for roughly 42.3% of that free cash flow. Q2 alone produced $4.67B. The dividend was cut from $0.52 to $0.2775 in 2022 and has been flat since. AT&T is no Dividend Aristocrat.

Bull case: Adjusted EPS of $0.65 beat the $0.59 estimate. AT&T added 432K postpaid phone subscribers with churn of 0.86%, and fiber now reaches 38.6M locations. Management aims to return $45B+ to shareholders through 2028 and accelerated 2026 buybacks to about $10B.

Risk: Total debt of $144B and net debt to EBITDA of 2.68x sit above the company’s 2.5x target. That makes dividend growth unlikely until leverage comes down.

Energy Transfer: Ultra-High Yield Even After a 32% Rally

Energy Transfer (NYSE:ET) raised its quarterly distribution to $0.34 per unit, or $1.36 annualized. At $20.54, the units carry a very high yield of 6.62%, even though they are up 32.57% over the past year. Rising payouts are keeping this yield high, the best reason a yield can stay elevated.

Distribution safety read: Distributable cash flow of $2.70B+ per quarter against about $1.17B in distributions means coverage of roughly 2.3x. Q2 adjusted EBITDA rose 31% to $5.07B, and full-year guidance was raised to $18.8B to $19.1B. The company announced its nineteenth consecutive quarterly increase on July 27, 2026. That streak began after Energy Transfer cut its distribution in October 2020.

Bull case: Demand for natural gas from data centers and power plants is feeding new projects, including the Hugh Brinson Pipeline and the Nederland NGL export expansion . NGL exports rose 25% in Q2. The average analyst target is $24.74.

Risk: Total liabilities are $97.4B, interest expense is rising and some divisions carry commodity exposure. Unitholders also get a K-1 tax form, which complicates tax filing and makes the units awkward to hold in some retirement accounts.

Five Income Streams Built on Contracts

W. P. Carey and Energy Transfer offer the clearest mix of coverage and growth. Omega’s raise shows confidence from a landlord whose operators are getting best. VICI’s ultra-high yield mostly reflects a stock price that has been under pressure while the leases keep paying, and AT&T trades a lower yield for a free cash flow buffer the REITs cannot match. With the 10-year Treasury at 5.31%, these five names show where contract-backed cash flow can still compete with it.

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