7 Stocks with Dividends to Buy Now

High-yield dividends are the first metric that most investors consider when seeking stocks with dividends to buy for immediate dividend cash flow.

While institutional investors and stock traders can generate higher returns through frequent trading of non-dividend stocks, stocks with dividends offer a certain level of risk mitigation that retail, part-time and novice investors seek. Properly selected stocks with dividends offer a balanced approach to realizing gains.

However, to find the best stock with dividends, investors must look past high yields and consider additional metrics to filter out the equities best suited for their investment portfolio strategy. To complete a successful analysis, investors can incorporate vast arrays of data and complex analytical models. Institutional investors have the time and necessary resources to run these complex analytical models regularly. However, more casual investors can also get a good indication of which stocks with dividends offer good potential returns.

Like many service providers and financial advisory sites, DividendInvestor.com offers several research and stock selection tools. With a focus on stocks with dividends, Dividendinvestor.com tools, such as the Dividend Screener, offer specific options for selecting dividend income-paying stocks for almost any portfolio and investment strategy.

The search tools revealed several stocks with dividend that offer above-average dividend yields with ex-dividend dates that occur in the next few weeks. Additionally, to insure than the above-average yields are not driven by falling share prices, all equities on the list below have delivered double-digit-percentage total returns over the past 12 months. Additionally, to ensure dividend income growth, every stock on the list had to have enhanced its annual dividend payout last year. Five of the seven equities below have current annual dividend streaks between 13 and 45 consecutive years.

Sorted in ascending order by their current total return over the trailing 12-month period, below are the seven stocks with dividends to buy now.

7 Stocks with Dividends to Buy Now: #7

Phillips 66 Partners LP (NYSE:PSXP)

Phillips 66 Partners LP owns and operates energy midstream assets for storage and transportation of crude oil, refined petroleum products and natural gas liquids. Founded in 2013, the company has boosted its dividend payout every quarter. Over the past 25 periods, the company enhanced its quarterly payout amount nearly 460%, which corresponds to an average growth rate of more than 7% each quarter or 28.8% per year.

After a brief pullback in late 2018, the share price has gained nearly 30% since late December 2018. Even including the late-2018 correction, the share price gained more than 5% over the past 12 months to combine with the dividend income for a total one-year return of almost 15%. The total return over the past three years is nearly 38%.

7 Stocks with Dividends to Buy Now: #6

VOC Energy Trust (NYSE:VOC)

Founded in 2010 and based in Houston, the VOC Energy Trust acquires and holds interest in oil and natural gas properties. The company has an 80% term net profits interest in the sale of the interests and production from the underlying properties in Kansas and Texas.

The trust’s current annualized dividend payout of $0.70 translates to a 13.8% forward dividend yield, which is more than 5% above the trust’s own 13.15% yield average over the past five years. In addition to the extraordinary yield level, the company’s share price has risen nearly 140% since the beginning of 2016. During the 18-month period preceding the current uptrend. the share price declined more than 85%, which delivered a 23% total loss over the past five years, despite the high dividend yield. However, it delivered a 15.4% total return in the past year and a 116% total return over the last five.

7 Stocks with Dividends to Buy Now: #5

Consolidated Edison, Inc. (NYSE:ED)

Founded in 1884, Consolidated Edison offers regulated electric, gas and steam delivery businesses to nearly 4 million customers primarily in New York City, southeastern New York and northern New Jersey. The company began distributing dividends in 1885 and has boosted its annual distribution amount for the past 45 consecutive years. The dividends rose 40% over the past two decades for an average annual growth rate of 1.6%. However, the 3.22% annual dividend growth rate over the past five years is more than double the growth rate since 1999.

Despite a few pullbacks, the share price has maintained a long-term uptrend. Over the past year, the share price gained more than 21% for a combined total return of nearly 25%. The share price and dividend income combined for a total return of 37.5% and nearly 75% over the last five years.

7 Stocks with Dividends to Buy Now: #4

Cummins, Inc. (NYSE:CMI)

Cummins boosted its quarterly dividend amount for the September pay date 15% from $1.14 to the current $1.311 level, which is equivalent to a $5.24 annual amount and a 3.1% forward dividend yield. With a history of paying dividends for nearly seven decades, Cummins paid a flat $0.30 annual dividend from 2000 to 2005. However, since resuming dividend hikes in 2006, the company has enhanced its annual payout amount nearly 18-fold, which corresponds to an average annual dividend growth rate of 23%.

The share price declined 35% in 2018 but regained most of those losses in 2019. Over the past 12 months, the share price advanced 22% and combined with dividend payouts for a one-year total return on shareholders’ investment of nearly 25%. The tree-year total return is 45% and the five year total return is nearly 50%.

7 Stocks with Dividends to Buy Now: #3

National Retail Properties, Inc. (NYSE:NNN)

Initially created to own and lease only Golden Corral restaurant location properties, National Retail Properties, Inc. (NYSE:NNN) has rewarded its shareholders with nearly three decades of consecutive annual dividend hikes. The total annual payout amount more than doubled over the past two decades, which is equivalent to an average growth rate of nearly 4% per year.

The company current $0.515 quarterly dividend payout is 3% higher than the $0.50 distribution from the same period last year. This quarterly dividend corresponds to a $2.06 annual payout and a 3.6% forward dividend yield.

Like most real estate equities, the company’s share price pulled back between mid-2016 and early 2018, which limited the three-year total return to below 35%. However, the subsequent price recovery pushed the total return over the past 12 months above 32%. The five year total return was nearly 82%.

7 Stocks with Dividends to Buy Now: #2

Realty Income Corporation (NYSE:O)

Operating as a real estate investment trust (REIT) in the commercial real estate market, The Realty Income Corporation has rewarded its stakeholders with 600 consecutive monthly dividend payouts in its 50-year history. Since switching to a REIT setup in 1994, the company has enhanced its monthly dividend payout on average almost four times per year. The company’s current monthly payout of $0.227 is 2.7% higher than it was one year earlier and yields 3.42%. Over the last 20 years, the company delivered an average dividend growth rate of nearly 5% per year.

In addition to a reliable dividend income growth, the Realty Income Corporation also rewarded its stakeholders with a nearly uninterrupted asset appreciation uptrend. Over the past year, the share price rose 39% and delivered a combined total return of more than 42% when accounting for dividends. A small share price pullback from mid-2016 to early 2018 held the three-year total return below 40%. However, the five-year total return exceeded 110%.

7 Stocks with Dividends to Buy Now: #1

Omega Healthcare Investors, Inc. (NYSE:OHI)

After suspending dividend distributions in 2000, Omega Healthcare Investors, one of the largest health care equity REITs in the United States, resumed its rising dividend payouts in 2003. Since then, the REIT has enhanced its annual payout amount nearly 350%, which equates to an average growth rate of nearly 10% per year.

Omega boosted its quarterly payout 1.5% for the upcoming distribution in mid-November to $0.67, which corresponds to a $2.68 annual payout and a forward dividend yield of nearly 6%. After declining for nearly three years, the company’s share price has risen sharply. Over the last year, the share price gained one-third of its value and combined with the rising dividend payout for a total return of 47% over the past 12 months. While the share price pullback limited the five-year total return 55%, the three year return is almost 60%.

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