Realty Income and 4 More High-Yield Dividend Stocks for November
Five companies across tobacco, real estate, pipelines, and telecom all cover their dividends with room to spare, but each one carries a specific risk that could quietly erode a retiree's income. Here is what to watch before the next payment…
Retirees need two things from a dividend stock: the check must arrive on schedule, and it must grow faster than the cost of groceries. This month’s list covers five cash-generating businesses in five different industries: tobacco, net-lease real estate, gaming real estate, natural gas pipelines, and telecom. In every case, earnings or cash flow will cover the payout, and each company has years of payment history behind it. Several of them pay in November, including Realty Income (NYSE:O), whose next monthly dividend of $0.2715 a share is scheduled to arrive on November 13.
Altria: A 61st Raise and Guidance Moving Higher
Altria (NYSE:MO | MO Price Prediction) closed at $78.01 on October 30. With an annualized forward dividend of $4.44, the stock yields about 5.69%.
Dividend safety: On October 29, Altria raised its full-year adjusted EPS guidance to $5.66 to $5.74. At that range, the dividend uses roughly 77% to 78% of adjusted earnings. That’s a high payout ratio, but it’s normal for a business that needs very little reinvestment. Third-quarter adjusted EPS came in at $1.52 against a $1.51 estimate, and net income rose 6.0% to $2.518 billion. The company paid out $1.7 billion in dividends during the quarter. Altria says its August 4.7% raise was its 61st dividend increase in 57 years, and the payment record backs that up: the quarterly dividend went from $1.06 to $1.11, with a September 15 ex-dividend date. Management is aiming for mid-single-digit annual dividend growth through 2028.
Bull case: Altria makes a lot on every pack it sells. The smokeable segment’s adjusted operating companies income margin, its measure of operating profit, was 64.5%, and price increases keep offsetting lower volumes. Equity income from its beer investment rose to $228 million from $123 million. The board also added $1 billion to the buyback program. Even after a 41.89% year-to-date gain, the stock trades at about 13 times forward earnings.
Risk: Cigarette volumes keep shrinking. Industry volume fell about 5%, Marlboro’s retail share slipped 1.0 point to 39.5%, and on! lost 1.3 points of share in nicotine pouches. On top of that, the stock is now above the average analyst target of $72.55 after a 15.87% run over the past month, so new buyers lock in a lower yield than they could have a few weeks ago.
Realty Income: Monthly Checks Backed by an A Rating
At $56.94, Realty Income’s annualized forward dividend of $3.258 works out to a yield of about 5.72%, paid monthly.
Dividend safety: REITs are better judged by adjusted funds from operations (AFFO) than by GAAP earnings, because AFFO adds back non-cash depreciation. In August, Realty Income raised its 2026 AFFO guidance to $4.44 to $4.45 per share, so the dividend uses about 73% of the top end. Second-quarter AFFO rose 3.8% to $1.09 a share. Occupancy stood at 98.8%, and re-signed leases brought in 102.7% of the old rent. Fitch rates the company “A” with a Stable Outlook. Realty Income says the second quarter was its 115th consecutive quarterly dividend increase, and its monthly payment record runs without a gap from January 1999 through October 2026.
Bull case: A monthly payment lines up with monthly bills, and the portfolio is still growing. Realty Income invested $2.6 billion in the second quarter at a 7.3% initial cash yield, raised its 2026 investment target to $10.0 billion, and announced a $6 billion hyperscale data center joint venture.
Risk: Leverage is rising. Net debt to EBITDA rose to 5.4x from 5.2x, and 65.7% of annualized base rent comes from tenants without investment-grade credit ratings. The stock has also barely moved, up just 7.11% over five years, so nearly all of the return here comes from the dividend.
VICI Properties: Ultra-High-Yield With 100% Occupancy
VICI Properties (NYSE:VICI) is the ultra-high-yield name on this list. At $24.47, its annualized forward dividend of $1.84 yields about 7.52%.
Dividend safety: On October 28, VICI raised its 2026 AFFO guidance to $2.47 to $2.48 per diluted share. That leaves the dividend at about 74% of the top end. Total AFFO rose 7.5% to $685.2 million. The portfolio is 100% occupied, the weighted average lease term is 39.6 years, and most leases include 2.0% annual rent increases. VICI refinanced its 2026 debt maturities with $1.75 billion of investment-grade notes at a 5.42% weighted average rate. The $0.46 quarterly dividend declared in September was, according to the company, its 9th consecutive annual increase since its IPO. The payment record supports the rise, from $0.2875 in late 2018 to today’s level.
Bull case: The stock has fallen 8.39% year to date and trades at about 8 times forward earnings, well below the average analyst target of $30.83. Management is moving to take advantage of the discount with a new buyback authorization of up to $2.0 billion.
Risk: VICI depends heavily on two casino operators, which account for 38% and 32% of rent. A $458 million non-cash credit-loss reserve charge cut GAAP EPS to $0.31 from $0.71 a year earlier. AFFO of $0.62 a share also missed the $0.72 consensus. Total debt stands at $17.2 billion.
Kinder Morgan: Steady Raises Funded by Gas Demand
Kinder Morgan (NYSE:KMI) has the lowest yield in this group. At $33.87, its $1.19 annualized dividend yields about 3.51%. In exchange, retirees get the strongest growth story of the five.
Dividend safety: The dividend uses about 73% of trailing EPS of $1.62. In the second quarter, Kinder Morgan generated $2.0 billion of operating cash flow and $978 million of free cash flow. Net debt was 3.6x adjusted EBITDA, at the low end of the company’s target range, and Moody’s upgraded its credit rating to Baa1. On October 21, the board declared a $0.2975 quarterly dividend, payable November 16 to shareholders of record on November 2. The payout has increased every year since 2020, from $0.2625 per quarter to the current level.
Bull case: Demand from power generation is driving growth. The project backlog totals $9.6 billion. About 92% of it is natural gas, and more than 60% supports power generation or local gas utilities. Second-quarter EPS of $0.37 beat the $0.31 estimate, and revenue rose 10.8%.
Risk: Kinder Morgan has cut before. Its quarterly dividend fell from $0.51 in 2015 to $0.125 in 2016. The oil-related businesses are also weaker, with refined products volumes down 5% and crude and condensate volumes down 16%.
AT&T: Lowest Payout Ratio on the List
AT&T (NYSE:T) closed at $21.43, so its $1.11 annualized dividend yields about 5.18%. The next payment arrives on November 2.
Dividend safety: AT&T’s coverage is the best of the five. The dividend uses about 46% of the company’s raised adjusted EPS outlook of roughly $2.40. Across all shares outstanding, the payout costs roughly $7.48 billion a year, compared with a 2026 free cash flow target of $18 billion-plus. Third-quarter adjusted EPS of $0.65 beat the $0.60 estimate, and revenue rose 5.3% to $32.32 billion. After cutting the payout from $0.52, AT&T has paid $0.2775 every quarter since April 2022.
Bull case: The business is growing again. AT&T added a record 769,000 internet subscribers, including 442,000 on fiber, along with 379,000 postpaid phone customers. Postpaid phone churn was 0.92%. Fiber now reaches more than 39 million locations, and the company is aiming for 60 million by the end of 2030. It plans to return more than $45 billion to shareholders from 2026 through 2028. After an 11.16% drop over the past month, the stock trades at about 8 times forward earnings.
Risk: AT&T plans to keep the dividend at $1.11 rather than raise it, and buybacks are getting more of the spare cash. Net debt is 3.13x adjusted EBITDA, above the company’s 2.5x long-term target, and total debt stands at $159.6 billion.
Five Dividends Built on Durable Cash Flow
All five pay out less than they make. Each has long-lived cash flow behind it: pricing power at Altria, long leases at Realty Income and VICI, contracted pipeline volumes at Kinder Morgan and fiber subscribers at AT&T. VICI offers the highest yield, Kinder Morgan the fastest growth and AT&T the best coverage, while Altria and Realty Income have the longest records of raises. Stacking names like these into a payment calendar is the whole point of our free Paycheck Portfolio guide, which walks through the mix and the withdrawal order. For retirees, the next numbers to watch are leverage at Realty Income and AT&T, VICI’s tenant health, and Kinder Morgan’s progress on its backlog.
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Chris Lange is a financial and geopolitical writer with more than a decade of experience covering a myriad of topics. He has published thousands of articles for 24/7 Wall St., with past coverage focused heavily on stocks, IPOs, healthcare, defense, global affairs, and technology.
His work has been quoted, or referenced by a number of outlets including Business Insider, USA Today, Yahoo Finance, MSN, The Motley Fool, and many other publications. A graduate of Southwestern University, he studied business with a focus on investments and has previous experience in banking and startups.
When not reading or writing the news, he is following his passion for Lacrosse, playing chess, or building solar projects with his dad.
