Big Yields Are Easy to Find. These 4 Dividend Stocks Have Something Better

Every income investor has seen it happen: a double-digit yield draws buyers, then the dividend gets cut. The four names here were picked because the cash behind the payout is easy to see. The clearest example is Enterprise Products Partners (NYSE:EPD | EPD Price Prediction), which generated $2.3B of operational distributable cash flow in the second quarter, covering its distribution 1.9x. Fee-based pipelines, a diversified healthcare giant and a tobacco company with pricing power each pay well, and each can show the cash to keep paying.

Enterprise Products Partners: Nearly Double Coverage on a 6% Yield

Yield: At $36.91, the $2.24 annualized forward distribution yields about 6.07%.

Dividend safety: Over the 12 months ending June 30, Enterprise paid out 56% of adjusted cash flow from operations. It also kept $1.1B after distributions in the second quarter alone, which funded growth projects and $159M of unit buybacks. Leverage is at its 3.0 net target. About 97% of its debt is fixed rate, with a weighted average life of roughly 17 years. The latest raise took the quarterly payout to $0.56 from $0.55, up 2.8% YoY. The distribution record runs continuous from 1999.

Bull case: Enterprise posted record adjusted EBITDA of $2.83B (+17% YoY) and record pipeline volumes of 14.7 MMBPD. It has $6.5B of organic projects under construction, including an LPG export terminal expansion due online by year-end 2026. Management says that export capacity is about 90% contracted. Units are up 20.45% year to date.

Risk: Management said about $200 million of the quarter came from unusually strong global demand that has since normalized, so the next few quarters may show less of that boost. The partnership also issues a K-1, which makes taxes more complicated, and its longtime co-CEO is retiring.

Enbridge: 31 Straight Raises Backed by a $41 Billion Backlog

Yield: Enbridge (NYSE:ENB) pays a quarterly dividend of C$0.97. For U.S. holders, the annualized forward amount of $2.784 works out to about a 6.07% yield at $45.89.

Dividend safety: Management reaffirmed 2026 DCF guidance of C$5.70-6.10 per share. That means the dividend uses roughly 64% to 68% of guided cash flow. Second-quarter distributable cash flow was $2.95B, and adjusted EPS of $0.63 beat the $0.60 consensus. The company reports 31 consecutive years of dividend increases and says it expects to return 40 to 45 billion to shareholders over the next five years.

Bull case: Enbridge works like a utility that happens to own pipelines. Its $41 billion backlog covers liquids, gas transmission, gas utilities and renewables, and its pipes connect to about 75% of North America’s refining capacity. Management targets about 5% annual growth in EBITDA, DCF and EPS after 2026. The stock has gone nowhere, down 0.14% year to date and down 8.38% over the past month, which has pushed the yield higher.

Risk: Leverage is tight. Debt-to-EBITDA reached 5.1x, just above the 4.5 to 5 target range. Management blames currency moves for most of that, and the same currency moves change the U.S.-dollar value of each payment.

Johnson & Johnson: A Dividend King With the Most Coverage

Yield: Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) yields about 2.07% on its $5.36 forward dividend at $258.45. Its yield is the lowest on this list. It also has the most room to keep raising.

Dividend safety: In April the quarterly payout rose to $1.34 from $1.30, the company’s 64th consecutive year of increases, which makes it a Dividend King. The forward dividend is about 46% of the bottom of 2026 adjusted EPS guidance, which is $11.60-11.75. Full-year free cash flow is expected to reach approaching $21 billion. Net debt is about $28 billion, and the company holds a AAA credit rating.

Bull case: J&J has 28 products and platforms that each bring in more than $1 billion a year, and it is on track to top $100 billion in annual revenue for the first time. Growth comes from Darzalex at $4.21B (+18.9%) and Tremfya at $2.05B (+72.5%). Shares are up 26.89% year to date.

Risk: Biosimilar competition took Stelara sales down 55.2% to $740M, and litigation costs continue. The planned separation of DePuy Synthes in mid-2027 also has to go smoothly.

British American Tobacco: Ultra-High-Yield Paid From a Cash Machine

Yield: British American Tobacco (NYSE:BTI) pays a quarterly ADR dividend of $0.834851, up from $0.749068 in 2025. At $53.90, the forward yield is about 6.20%. It is the one ultra-high-yield name here.

Dividend safety: BAT has converted at least 100% of operating profit into cash every year since 2020. It says it is on track to generate more than £50 billion in free cash flow by 2030. The forward dividend matches about 86% of trailing EPS of $3.90, which is high but supported by that cash conversion. Leverage was 2.55x at the end of 2025, and management targets 2.0-2.5x by year-end 2026. The company notes a 25-year track record of dividend growth in sterling, and its latest raise was 2.0%. The company is also buying back £1.3B of stock in 2026.

The bull thesis: the shift to smokeless products is working. BAT now has 34.1M smokeless consumers. Velo grew 48% globally, and Velo Plus is now the number-two U.S. modern oral brand. Meanwhile, U.S. cigarettes delivered price/mix gains of 12.3%. At a forward P/E of 11, the stock trades at a modest multiple relative to that growth.

Risk: Illegal disposable vapes keep taking share from Vuse, and nicotine regulation remains a constant concern. The company also faces potential Dutch tax assessments of £1.08B.

Cash Covers Every One of These Payouts

Enterprise pays out only about half its cash flow, Enbridge spends about two-thirds of guided DCF, J&J pays less than half its earnings, and BAT turns almost all of its operating profit into cash. That coverage is why these yields are sustainable, unlike the double-digit yields that end in cuts (we documented the seven warning signs that a big yield is about to be slashed in a free dividend trap guide). Two pipelines with fee-based revenue, a AAA healthcare company and a tobacco company with pricing power give this income list protection on several fronts at once.

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