5 Overlooked Dividend Stocks Yielding Up to 10.39% to Buy Now
Five income stocks sitting just below the radar are paying yields that dwarf the market average, but each one carries a catch that could change everything before the next distribution hits your account.
Some of the best dividend payers in the market sit one level below the names that income investors already own. The five below are two midstream partnerships, two specialty REITs, and a leaf tobacco merchant. All pay well above the market average, and none gets the attention mega-cap dividend payers do. Forward yields run from 5.97% to 10.39%. Each pick starts with the question that matters most for income: can the cash flow keep paying the dividend?
MPLX: A 7.45% Yield With Raises Already Planned Through 2027
MPLX (NYSE:MPLX | MPLX Price Prediction) pays $1.0765 per unit each quarter, or $4.306 a year. At a unit price of $57.77, that’s an ultra-high yield of 7.45%.
Dividend safety: MPLX produced $1.45 billion of distributable cash flow in the second quarter. Management said it will “continue to target our 1.3 coverage ratio” for 2026 and 2027. That means about $1.30 of distributable cash flow for every $1.00 paid out. Leverage is 3.7x, below the 4.0x target, and about $1.0 billion is still available under the unit buyback authorization. The record shows recent growth plus one long break. The quarterly payout rose from $0.85 to $0.9565 to $1.0765 over the last three annual steps. Before that, it stayed flat at $0.6875 from early 2020 through mid-2021.
Bull case: Management expects 12.5% distribution growth in both 2026 and 2027. It raised 2026 growth capex by $500 million to $2.9 billion, and more than 90% of that goes to Permian and Marcellus gas and NGL projects expected to earn mid-teens returns. Harmon Creek III began operating in August, and the BANGL expansion to 300 mbpd is due in 4Q26. Management said, “Third quarter should be stronger than the second quarter, and fourth should be stronger than the third as well.” The units are up 14.62% year to date.
Risk: Revenue has come in below estimates in every quarter from Q1 25 through Q2 26. Second-quarter EPS of $1.06 narrowly missed expectations of $1.0636. Its refining sponsor controls about 647 million of the roughly 1,014 million common units, so MPLX’s fate is closely tied to that one company. Unitholders also receive a K-1 tax form.
Hess Midstream: A 10.39% Yield After a Deal Reset
Hess Midstream (NYSE:HESM) last paid $0.7888 per Class A share. That annualizes to $3.1552, and at $30.38, the ultra-high yield is 10.39%. The yield rose because the shares fell 24.35% over the past month. They dropped 16% after the company announced on October 6, 2026, that its oil-major sponsor will exit its stake and sell Hess Midstream its DJ Basin midstream assets.
Dividend safety: Preliminary 2027 guidance calls for about $575 million of adjusted free cash flow at the midpoint. That leaves roughly $160 million after distributions. About 70% of post-deal revenue will have downside protection through minimum revenue commitments and ship-or-pay contracts, which pay Hess Midstream even if volumes fall short. Its sponsor’s exit cuts the total unit count by about 40%, which reduces total distributions paid. The track record is consistent: the payout rose every quarter, from $0.2703 in August 2017 to $0.7888 in August 2026.
Bull case: The DJ Basin assets should roughly triple crude gathering throughput and lift gas gathering throughput by more than 30%. Third-party volumes would rise to about 20% of the total. Once the deal closes, public investors will own all of Hess Midstream. A free cash flow surplus on top of a double-digit yield is rare.
Risk: Growth is pausing. The company still targets 5% annual distribution growth for the third and fourth quarters of 2026. After that, it plans to hold 2027 quarterly payouts at the fourth-quarter 2026 level (per the deal announcement). Its anchor customer will cut Bakken rigs from three to two in December. Hess Midstream expects Bakken volumes to fall about 5% through 2027 before leveling off in 2028. The deal is expected to close by year-end 2026.
Omega Healthcare Investors: A Dividend Raise Backed by Stronger Operators
Omega Healthcare Investors (NYSE:OHI) pays $0.68 per quarter, or $2.72 a year. At $45.59, it is a high-yield name at 5.97%.
Dividend safety: Second-quarter funds available for distribution (FAD, a REIT’s cash available to pay dividends) came to $0.78 per share. That puts the dividend at 87.18% of FAD. Adjusted funds from operations (AFFO) was $0.83, and the company raised full-year AFFO guidance to $3.22-$3.26. The balance sheet is the strongest of the group. Leverage is 3.3x, and fixed-charge coverage is 6.5x. About $700 million in proceeds cut revolver borrowings to $6 million, and the next debt maturity is April 2027. Omega held the dividend at $0.67 for years before the July raise. That consistency suggests the board raises only when coverage supports it.
Bull case: Trailing 12-month operator EBITDAR coverage improved to 1.65x from 1.55x. Private-pay revenue rose to 26.2% of operator revenue from 23.0%. Retiring CEO Taylor Pickett called it “the most favorable operating backdrop that I have known in my career.” Management also said, “6-7% annualized FAD growth is eminently achievable.”
Risk: Genesis Healthcare is in Chapter 11 with $148.5 million in Omega loans outstanding. Guidance assumes about $148 million is repaid in Q4 2026. A CEO transition and Medicaid reimbursement policy are also worth monitoring.
EPR Properties: A Monthly Payer Rebuilding Its Dividend
EPR Properties (NYSE:EPR) pays $0.31 monthly, or $3.72 a year. At $55.32, the ultra-high yield is 6.72%. The next payment is November 16 to holders of record on October 30.
Dividend safety: Second-quarter AFFO of $1.43 per share covered three monthly payments at a 65.03% payout. The portfolio is 99% leased or operated, and tenant rent coverage is 2.0x. Interest coverage is 4.0x. Net debt to adjusted EBITDA has risen to 5.3x from 5.1x. A new $1.6 billion credit agreement adds liquidity. EPR’s dividend track record has a break: it suspended payments after the April 2020 payment and resumed in 2021 at $0.25 per month. It has since been raised four times, but it remains below the pre-pandemic $0.3825.
Bull case: EPR raised full-year guidance for adjusted FFO (FFOAA) to $5.41-$5.57, 7.2% growth at the midpoint. It invested $440.8 million in the second quarter at an initial cash yield of about 8.5%, including a $304.4 million purchase of seven theme-park attraction properties. EPS has beaten estimates for six straight quarters, and the stock is up 16.38% year to date.
Risk: A golf-entertainment chain and a movie-theater chain each accounted for 13.1% of second-quarter revenue, and the top 10 tenants accounted for 63.7%. Another $450 million of senior notes comes due in December.
Universal Corp.: A Dividend King With a Coverage Problem
Universal Corp. (NYSE:UVV) pays $0.83 per quarter, or $3.32 a year. At $40.14, the ultra-high yield is 8.27%. The May increase was its 56th consecutive annual increase, which puts it among the Dividend Kings.
Dividend safety: This is the weakest coverage on the list. Fiscal 2026 EPS of $2.64 covers only part of the forward payout, which represents 125.76% of those earnings (a payout above earnings is one of the seven warning signs we flagged in a free dividend trap guide). Operating cash flow fell 60.5% to $129.1 million. Fiscal first-quarter adjusted EPS was -$0.20, missing expectations of $0.25. Tobacco operating income fell 90% to $3.5 million.
Bull case: Tobacco shipments usually land in the second half of the fiscal year. Available inventory of 27% is expected to normalize in fiscal 2027, which could release cash. Shares are down 18.66% year to date, reflecting how much pessimism investors have priced in. The board also raised the dividend during a difficult year.
Risk: Oversupply in flue-cured and burley tobacco, along with weak packaged-goods demand hurting the ingredients segment, could keep earnings below the dividend for longer. The last payment, due November 2, went to holders of record on October 12.
Where Each Name Fits in an Income Portfolio
Omega and MPLX have the strongest coverage and balance sheets in the group. EPR and Hess Midstream pay more and remain well covered, but their dividend growth comes with more conditions. Universal Corp. offers the longest run and the highest risk. Its next two quarters will show whether the run can hold without cash flow support.
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