5 Historically Cheap High-Yield Dividend Stocks Ripe for Income Seekers Looking Beyond Tech

Bank stocks deserve a fresh look as the income portion of a retirement portfolio, and the reason is coverage more than yield. Large lenders came out of the Federal Reserve’s stress tests raising payouts from a position of strength. PNC Financial Services (NYSE:PNC | PNC Price Prediction) set the tone by lifting its quarterly dividend 18% to $2 per share. The five banks below are judged on what actually protects the check.

First is the earnings payout ratio, meaning the share of profits paid out as dividends. Free cash flow tells you little at a bank because every loan and deposit moves the cash flow statement. Second is the CET1 ratio, a bank’s core capital cushion measured against its loans and securities, which regulators require to stay above a set floor. Third is credit quality: how much of the loan book is going bad.

Truist Financial

Truist Financial (NYSE:TFC) has the highest yield in this group at 4.5%. That comes from an annual dividend of $2.08 per share and a share price of $46.13. The payout uses about 47.8% of trailing earnings of $4.35 per share, so more than half of profits are left over for loan growth, losses and buybacks.

Capital is the stronger part of the safety case. Truist’s CET1 ratio rose to 10.9% in the second quarter, even though the bank returned more than 100% of earnings through buybacks and dividends. Management called that total payout “appropriate, given our capital position.” Credit also improved, with net charge-offs falling to 0.50% from 0.61%. Second-quarter EPS of $1.23 beat the $1.08 consensus. On track record, the quarterly dividend has held at $0.52 since the 2022-08-11 ex-dividend date. That followed raises from $0.45 to $0.48 and then to $0.52.

Bull case: The stock trades at a price-to-book ratio of 1.001, which means you pay roughly what the bank’s net assets are worth. Truist is also targeting about $5B of buybacks this year. Every share retired reduces the dividend bill, which builds room for the next raise.

Risk: Net interest margin, the spread between what a bank earns on loans and what it pays on deposits, fell 4 bps sequentially and YoY as Truist left higher-yielding consumer loans. Management guides full-year net interest income growth of only 1% to 1.5%.

Huntington Bancshares

Huntington Bancshares (NASDAQ:HBAN) yields 4.03% on a $0.62 annual dividend, with shares at $15.32. The payout equals 47.7% of trailing EPS of $1.30. Merger costs drag that GAAP number down, including $152M of pre-tax acquisition charges in the second quarter alone. Management’s 2027 earnings objective of $1.90 to $1.93 per share would leave the current dividend with a much deeper cushion if the bank hits it.

The CET1 ratio sits at 10.0%, down from 10.2% as the integration absorbed capital. In the Fed’s severely adverse scenario, cumulative loan losses came to 5.9% of average loans. That was the second-lowest result in its regional peer group. The quarterly dividend has been $0.155 every quarter since the 2022-03-17 ex-date, up from $0.15 before that and $0.04 in 2012.

Bull case: The Cadence Bank deal, closed Feb 1, 2026, added $36.9B of loans and $43.5B of deposits. Net interest income rose 40% YoY to $2.05B. With shares down 9.1% year to date, management said “the stock at this point is extraordinarily undervalued.”

Risk: The nonperforming asset ratio rose to 0.85% from 0.72%, meaning a bigger slice of loans has stopped paying as agreed. Problem loans that keep rising during a large integration would eat into the earnings that support the dividend.

U.S. Bancorp

U.S. Bancorp (NYSE:USB) yields 3.65% on its trailing dividend. The quarterly payout just rose to $0.54 from $0.52, which lifts the annualized forward rate to $2.16, or roughly 3.78% at $57.07. The trailing payout ratio is 41.5% of EPS of $5.01.

CET1 stands at 10.8%, or 9.4% once you include unrealized losses on bond holdings. Net charge-offs improved to 0.53% from 0.59%, and nonperforming assets are just 0.33% of loans. The dividend record goes back to 1999. Recent steps ran $0.46, $0.48, $0.49, $0.50, $0.52 and now $0.54, with a higher payout each year since 2021. The latest payment arrives 2026-10-15.

Bull case: Fees made up 44% of revenue, and management said that “gives us enormous stability, both of earnings and depth in our relationships.” Return on tangible common equity reached 18.7%. Management also plans to move total capital return toward 70 to 75% of earnings as CET1 approaches about 10%.

Risk: BTIG, closed June 1, 2026, carries about $30 million per quarter of integration costs and an assumed 15% contribution margin. Integration delays would slow capital return, and buybacks are already stuck at $200M.

PNC Financial Services

PNC yields 3.1% on trailing payments. On the new $8 annualized forward rate, it yields about 3.65% at $219.20. It also has the second-lowest payout here: 37.4% of trailing EPS of $18.16. In the second quarter, common dividends were $690 million against net income of $2.1 billion.

CET1 is 9.9%, close to the bank’s roughly 10% target. The bank’s chief executive pointed to the stress test: “For the fourth year in a row, PNC’s start to trough capital depletion was the lowest in our peer group.” Net charge-offs ran at 25 basis points, and nonperforming loans fell 10%. On track record, PNC cut its quarterly dividend to $0.10 in 2009. It has since rebuilt it through $1.25, $1.50, $1.55, $1.60 and $1.70 to $2.00 today. The next ex-dividend date is 2026-10-14.

Bull case: Shares fell 8.92% over the past month while earnings kept rising. Return on tangible common equity hit 17.9%, and management is aiming for an 18% left rate. The FirstBank conversion is finished.

Risk: Borrowings rose $16 billion to $79 billion through Federal Home Loan Bank advances, while deposits held flat. If deposit growth falls short, more expensive wholesale funding would pressure margins.

Citigroup

Citigroup (NYSE:C) yields 1.87% trailing, the lowest yield in this group. The quarterly payout rose to $0.67 from $0.60, which puts forward income at $2.68 a year, or about 2.07% at $129.63. Coverage is what wins Citi its spot: the payout is just 25.9% of trailing EPS of $9.26.

CET1 of 12.8% sits above the 11.6% requirement, even with a $30 billion buyback commitment ongoing. Second-quarter net income was $5.8 billion, or $3.15 per share. On track record, Citi paid $0.01 a quarter from 2011 into 2015. It has since rebuilt through $0.16, $0.32, $0.45, $0.51, $0.53 and $0.56 to today’s $0.67.

Bull case: Citi is the dividend grower in this group. Selling down Banamex could free up about $5 billion of capital, and Barron’s recently argued that the company’s transformation can lift the stock further.

Risk: Credit is moderating at the edges. Citi added $597M to its loan-loss reserves, and corporate loans that stopped accruing interest rose 42% YoY.

Coverage Ties This Income Roster Together

None of these banks pays out more than half of its earnings as dividends, and all five hold capital well above what regulators require. That combination lets a payout survive a credit downturn. Truist and Huntington supply the highest current income of the group. U.S. Bancorp and PNC pair solid yields with fresh raises, and Citigroup trades starting yield for the fastest dividend growth. As a group, they make a well-covered income portion for a retirement portfolio.

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