5 Dividend Stocks Yielding Up to 8% That Could Keep Paying for Years

Income investors have spent most of 2026 learning the difference between a big yield and a dependable one. This month’s list focuses on payers whose dividends are backed by cash flow, contracts, or regulation, and whose records show steady or rising payouts through good years and bad. The anchor is Consolidated Edison (NYSE:ED | ED Price Prediction), which says it has raised its dividend for 52 consecutive years. Around it sit two consumer staples and two net-lease REITs with forward yields running from roughly 5% to nearly 8%.

Kimberly-Clark: A Raise Streak That Goes Back Decades

Kimberly-Clark (NASDAQ:KMB) pays $1.28 per quarter, or $5.12 annualized. At $104.77 a share, that works out to a forward yield of about 4.89%.

Dividend safety: The track record is the main attraction. The quarterly payout has gone up every year in the dividend record, from $0.26 in 1999 to $1.26 in 2025 and $1.28 in 2026. Management says the streak now stands at 54 consecutive years. Coverage is tighter than the history suggests. The annualized dividend equals about 95% of trailing GAAP EPS of $5.37, although adjusted results run higher. In the first quarter, operating cash flow of $745 million minus capex of $424 million left about $321 million in free cash flow. The balance sheet is lean: shareholders’ equity of $1.87 billion against total liabilities of $16.68 billion.

Bull case: The business is getting more profitable. Second-quarter adjusted gross margin widened 190 bps to 38.8%, and adjusted operating profit rose 6.2% to $757 million. Adjusted EPS of $2.12 beat the $2.01 consensus, the company’s fifth beat in a row. On October 15, 2026, Kimberly-Clark released preliminary third-quarter results and said its full-year outlook was consistent with previous expectations. The stock rose 7.19% over the past week. It trades at 13 times forward earnings, and its beta of 0.275 points to very low volatility.

Risk: The pending acquisition of the maker of Tylenol and Listerine is expected to close by end of 2026. It brings integration risk to a balance sheet with little equity cushion. Management also guides to a low-single-digit decline in adjusted EPS attributable to Kimberly-Clark on a constant-currency basis. On top of that, social media disinformation in China is weighing on diaper sales, a headwind of about 100 bps.

General Mills: An Ultra-High-Yield Payer With 127 Years of Uninterrupted Dividends

General Mills (NYSE:GIS) pays $0.61 per quarter. With shares at $32.87, the forward yield is about 7.42%, which puts it in ultra-high-yield territory.

Dividend safety: The company calls this its 127th consecutive year of uninterrupted dividend payments, and the quarterly record shows no missed payments from 1999 through the most recent October 13, 2026 ex-dividend date. The record shows continuity rather than annual raises. The rate has stayed at $0.61 since the July 2025 ex-date. The annualized dividend uses about 79% of the midpoint of fiscal 2027 adjusted EPS guidance of $3.00 to $3.20. Cash flow covers the payout. Fiscal 2026 free cash flow was $1.63 billion, compared with an annual dividend bill of roughly $1.30 billion at the current share count. Management also cut buybacks to $500 million from $1.2 billion, which leaves more cash for the dividend.

Bull case: The stock is down 24.45% year to date and trades at just 12 times forward earnings. That valuation already assumes a lot of bad news. First-quarter fiscal 2027 adjusted EPS of $0.75 beat the $0.72 consensus. Management also reaffirmed guidance, including free cash flow conversion of about 95% and at least $750 million in cost savings this year. The average analyst target is $37.

Risk: Profits are shrinking. Guidance calls for adjusted operating profit to fall 13% to 8% in constant currency, and organic net sales are guided between -1.5% and +0.5%. Adjusted gross margin slipped 90 bps to 33.3%. Analysts lean cautious, with 12 hold ratings and 4 sell or strong sell ratings. The payment looks secure. Raises are what’s in doubt.

W. P. Carey: A Reset Dividend That Has Grown Every Quarter Since

W. P. Carey (NYSE:WPC) raised its quarterly dividend to $0.95, paid October 15, 2026. That is $3.80 annualized, or about a 5.90% forward yield at $64.45.

Dividend safety: Management describes a payout ratio just over 70% of AFFO (adjusted funds from operations, the standard REIT cash earnings measure). Full-year AFFO guidance was raised to $5.19 to $5.27 per share. Occupancy stands at 98.5%, more than 99% of rent carries contractual increases, and 47.8% is tied to CPI. Net debt is 5.5x adjusted EBITDA, and 95% of debt is fixed at a weighted average rate of 3.2%. The track record needs a footnote. After the office spin-off, the quarterly dividend fell from $1.071 to $0.86 in late 2023. It has been raised every quarter since.

Bull case: Inflation helps this landlord. Second-quarter AFFO of $1.34 per share rose 4.7% and beat the $1.24 consensus. Management raised investment volume guidance to $1.7 to $2.1 billion and said: “Our balance sheet is in excellent shape with ample liquidity, leverage at the low end of our target range, and no near-term debt maturities.”

Risk: Refinancing costs more now. W. P. Carey’s new 10-year bonds carry a 5.2% coupon, compared with the portfolio’s 3.2% average rate. Second-quarter impairments totaled $79.4 million, and European same-store rent fell 2.6% in constant currency.

VICI Properties: An Ultra-High-Yield REIT With 100% Occupancy

VICI Properties (NYSE:VICI) raised its quarterly payout to $0.46 from $0.45 in September. At $23.51, the forward yield is about 7.83%, the highest on this list.

Dividend safety: The annualized $1.84 payout is about 75% of the midpoint of 2026 AFFO guidance of $2.45 to $2.47 per share. The record shows an increase every year since the 2018 IPO, from $0.2875 per quarter in 2018 to today’s $0.46. Occupancy is 100%, and the weighted average lease term is 39.6 years. Net leverage of about 4.9 times is below the company’s 5 to 5.5 times target, and liquidity is about $2.5 billion.

Bull case: The fundamentals have held up better than the stock. Shares are down 19.61% over the past year, while revenue rose 5.7% to $1.06 billion last quarter and AFFO guidance moved higher. The company added three tenants in the quarter and now has 16. The GAAP EPS miss ($0.48 against a $0.71 estimate) came from a $271.1 million non-cash CECL charge, an accounting reserve for possible loan losses. It did not reduce rent collected. Analysts count 16 buy or strong buy ratings, and the average target is $31.58.

Risk: Rent is concentrated in a few tenants. The two largest casino operators account for about 38% and 32% of rent, and total debt is about $17.2 billion. The latest raise was also smaller than in past years.

Consolidated Edison: A Lower Yield Backed by 52 Years of Raises

Con Edison pays $0.8875 per quarter, or $3.55 annualized. At $110.37, that is a 3.22% forward yield, the lowest of the group. In exchange, it has the strongest coverage.

Dividend safety: The payout is about 58% of the midpoint of reaffirmed 2026 adjusted EPS guidance of $6.00 to $6.20. The 2026 raise was 4.4%, and the dividend record shows a higher quarterly rate in every year from 2017 ($0.69) onward. Revenue decoupling (a rate mechanism that separates utility revenue from sales volume) keeps earnings steady. In 2025, Chairman and CEO Tim Cawley described the company as “a bellwether holding for any equity or debt investor seeking a steady and reliable investment that can endure the changing and challenging times ahead.”

Bull case: Electrification gives the dividend room to keep growing. Con Edison projects its regulated investment base to compound at 8.8% a year, from $46.4 billion to about $67.2 billion by 2030. New buildings are showing 20% to 25% higher electric demand. Second-quarter adjusted EPS of $0.83 beat the $0.77 consensus.

Risk: Moody’s has a negative outlook on the company, and the 2026 plan includes up to $1.1 billion of new equity. Valuation is stretched after a 13.87% gain this year. The price sits above the $108.91 average analyst target, and 7 analysts rate the stock a sell or strong sell.

Where Each Payer Fits in an Income Portfolio

Con Edison and Kimberly-Clark offer the longest raise streaks on this list. W. P. Carey and VICI pair inflation-linked rent growth with AFFO payout ratios in the 70% range. General Mills offers the deepest valuation discount, backed by a dividend that free cash flow covers even while earnings shrink. The next items to track are VICI’s tenant concentration, the close of Kimberly-Clark’s acquisition, and whether General Mills resumes raises.

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