The broader market’s modest 1% yield on the S&P 500 has prompted investors to look for higher‑yielding individual stocks, and analysts point to three “unstoppable” businesses whose durable competitive moats support robust dividend payouts.
Consumer‑staple giant Kimberly‑Clark, maker of Cottonelle, Kleenex and Huggies, currently pays a quarterly dividend of $1.28 per share, or $5.12 annually, translating to a forward yield of about 5.2%. The company has raised its dividend for 54 consecutive years, earning a place among the elite Dividend Kings, and has grown the payout at a 3.3% compound annual rate over the past five years. Despite a challenging consumer‑spending environment, Kimberly‑Clark posted a slight sales increase last quarter and is investing in an alternative‑fiber program to improve margins and reduce commodity‑cost exposure.
Logistics leader FedEx offers a quarterly dividend of $1.22 per share, or $4.88 annually, yielding roughly 1.6% forward. Over the last five years the dividend has risen at a 17% annual rate, while the company’s payout ratio sits at just 27% of free cash flow, leaving ample room for future increases. FedEx generated $5.1 billion in trailing free cash flow on $95 billion of revenue, and management expects earnings growth to accelerate in the second half of the year as the consolidation of its Express and Ground operations reaches about 62% completion by the end of 2026, a move projected to cut costs and lift margins.
Realty Income, a real‑estate investment trust, has paid a monthly dividend for 57 straight years and increased it for 29 years. Its current monthly payout of $0.2715 per share equals $3.26 annually, giving a forward yield near 5.5%. The REIT owns roughly 15,500 properties across the United States, the United Kingdom and several European nations. On June 30, Realty Income announced a $6 billion joint venture with Cloud Capital to develop data‑center assets, a strategic push into digital‑infrastructure that management believes will generate attractive long‑term returns as demand for data‑center capacity outpaces supply.
Analysts note that the combination of solid cash flows, modest payout ratios and ongoing strategic investments makes these three stocks attractive dividend‑income options, especially when compared with the low‑yielding S&P 500 index.