By Highest Dividend Yield US Stocks for 2026
US stocks wey get the highest dividend yield mostly na prices wey fall. See the screen, payout ratios beside each yield, and how often dem cut the payout.
The US stocks wey get the highest dividend yield most times na the ones wey their share price don fall pass. Dividend yield na annual dividend per share divide by share price. Share price dey change every second, but payout fit change only few times for one decade. So, any ranking wey sort by yield mostly na ranking of the denominator.
This page run the screen across operating companies wey list for US market. E put two columns beside every yield: payout ratio, plus change for cash wey dem actually pay during the last twelve months. The table itself go show the yield trap, instead of just claiming am for prose.
US stocks wey get the highest dividend yield, after screening
The screen use the latest snapshot wey dey on file for every US-listed company wey worth $2 billion or more, dey trade at $5 per share or higher, get positive trailing dividend yield and positive trailing earnings per share. E rank the top 15. Beside each name, you go see the payout ratio (the annual dividend as percentage of earnings per share) and the change for cash wey dem pay over the trailing twelve months compared with the twelve months before am.
The exact SQL behind every number
WITH snapshot AS (
SELECT ticker,
toFloat64(dividend_yield) * 100 AS yield_pct,
toFloat64(price) AS price_usd,
toFloat64(dividend_yield) * toFloat64(price) AS annual_dividend,
toFloat64(earnings_per_share) AS eps
FROM global_markets.stocks_ratios
WHERE date = (SELECT max(date) FROM global_markets.stocks_ratios)
AND price >= 5
AND market_cap >= 2000000000
AND dividend_yield > 0
AND earnings_per_share > 0
),
payments AS (
SELECT ticker,
sumIf(toFloat64(cash_amount), ex_dividend_date > today() - INTERVAL 1 YEAR) AS ttm_paid,
sumIf(toFloat64(cash_amount), ex_dividend_date <= today() - INTERVAL 1 YEAR
AND ex_dividend_date > today() - INTERVAL 2 YEAR) AS prior_paid
FROM global_markets.stocks_dividends
WHERE distribution_type = 'recurring'
AND cash_amount > 0
AND ex_dividend_date > today() - INTERVAL 2 YEAR
AND ex_dividend_date <= today()
GROUP BY ticker
HAVING ttm_paid > 0 AND prior_paid > 0
)
SELECT s.ticker AS ticker,
round(s.yield_pct, 2) AS dividend_yield_pct,
round(s.annual_dividend / s.eps * 100, 0) AS payout_ratio,
round(100 * (p.ttm_paid - p.prior_paid) / p.prior_paid, 1) AS dividend_change_1y_pct,
round(s.price_usd, 2) AS share_price
FROM snapshot AS s
INNER JOIN payments AS p ON s.ticker = p.ticker
ORDER BY dividend_yield_pct DESC
LIMIT 15The list cover 20.95% for the top reach 11.55% for the bottom of 15 rows. Every reading for that page pass the normal US payer by far, and the two columns for the right side of the yield show how each name take reach there.
Make we start with the payout ratio. The leader own na 1948%, meaning the share of its earnings per share wey the annual dividend dey use up. Number near 100 mean say all the reported profit dey go out. Number above 100 mean say the dividend check bigger than the earnings behind am. Dem fit fund the difference from cash wey dey hand, asset sales, or borrowing. The dividend payout ratio guide explain wetin that figure dey capture and wetin e no dey capture.
Then look the change column. E answer wetin yield alone no fit show: did the payout itself grow? The top name's trailing twelve months of cash dividends come to 18.3% compared with the previous twelve months. Yield fit rise even when payout stay flat or shrink, as long as price fall faster.
Treat the constituents as temporary. Dem recompute this table every time dem publish am. Names go leave am after price recovery or dividend cut, because either one fit reduce the ratio. Na the pattern be the durable part of the page.
Why top of yield table na list of prices wey don fall
When you sort the whole payer universe into yield bands, you go see the same mechanism across the full population. The two columns for the right dey count wetin happen to the cash: the share of each band wey pay less for the last twelve months than for the twelve months before, and the share wey pay more.
The exact SQL behind every number
WITH snapshot AS (
SELECT ticker,
toFloat64(dividend_yield) * 100 AS yield_pct,
toFloat64(dividend_yield) * toFloat64(price) AS annual_dividend,
toFloat64(earnings_per_share) AS eps
FROM global_markets.stocks_ratios
WHERE date = (SELECT max(date) FROM global_markets.stocks_ratios)
AND price >= 5
AND market_cap >= 2000000000
AND dividend_yield > 0
AND earnings_per_share IS NOT NULL
),
payments AS (
SELECT ticker,
sumIf(toFloat64(cash_amount), ex_dividend_date > today() - INTERVAL 1 YEAR) AS ttm_paid,
sumIf(toFloat64(cash_amount), ex_dividend_date <= today() - INTERVAL 1 YEAR
AND ex_dividend_date > today() - INTERVAL 2 YEAR) AS prior_paid
FROM global_markets.stocks_dividends
WHERE distribution_type = 'recurring'
AND cash_amount > 0
AND ex_dividend_date > today() - INTERVAL 2 YEAR
AND ex_dividend_date <= today()
GROUP BY ticker
HAVING ttm_paid > 0 AND prior_paid > 0
)
SELECT multiIf(s.yield_pct >= 8, '8% and up',
s.yield_pct >= 5, '5-8%',
s.yield_pct >= 2.5, '2.5-5%',
'under 2.5%') AS yield_band,
count() AS companies,
round(quantileDeterministic(0.5)(s.yield_pct, cityHash64(s.ticker)), 2) AS median_yield_pct,
round(quantileDeterministicIf(0.5)(s.annual_dividend / s.eps * 100,
cityHash64(s.ticker), s.eps > 0), 0) AS median_payout_ratio,
round(100 * countIf(p.ttm_paid < p.prior_paid * 0.99) / count(), 1) AS pct_paid_less_than_year_before,
round(100 * countIf(p.ttm_paid > p.prior_paid * 1.01) / count(), 1) AS pct_paid_more_than_year_before
FROM snapshot AS s
INNER JOIN payments AS p ON s.ticker = p.ticker
GROUP BY yield_band
HAVING countIf(s.eps > 0) > 0
ORDER BY median_yield_pctCompare the first row with the last row. Median yield dey move from 1.14% for the under 2.5% band to 10.91% for the 8% and up band, across 580 and 32 companies respectively. Median payout ratio follow the same direction: 27% for the low band against 124% for the high one.
The cash columns make the difference between the two groups clearer. For the under 2.5% band, 77.6% of companies pay more for the last twelve months than for the twelve months before, while 5.5% pay less. For the 8% and up band, those figures na 34.4% and 40.6%. High yield wey come with rising payout no be the same thing as high yield wey come with shrinking payout, and yield column no fit show the difference. Dividend cuts explain wetin normally come before the reduction, while wetin count as good dividend yield set the market-wide median wey these bands dey around. Compared with the risk-free alternative, dividend yield versus Treasury yields follow the same comparison across one decade.
Double-digit dividend yield dey rare how much?
Each step below count the companies wey reach or pass one yield floor, together with the group median payout ratio and the share of companies wey no get any positive earnings. We still include companies wey dey make loss for this view. Na here the difference between the steps dey show.
The exact SQL behind every number
WITH snapshot AS (
SELECT ticker,
toFloat64(dividend_yield) * 100 AS yield_pct,
toFloat64(dividend_yield) * toFloat64(price) AS annual_dividend,
toFloat64(earnings_per_share) AS eps
FROM global_markets.stocks_ratios
WHERE date = (SELECT max(date) FROM global_markets.stocks_ratios)
AND price >= 5
AND market_cap >= 2000000000
AND dividend_yield > 0
AND earnings_per_share IS NOT NULL
),
rungs AS (
SELECT arrayJoin([2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 10, 15]) AS min_yield_pct
)
SELECT concat(toString(r.min_yield_pct), '% and up') AS yield_floor,
count() AS companies,
round(quantileDeterministicIf(0.5)(s.annual_dividend / s.eps * 100,
cityHash64(s.ticker), s.eps > 0), 0) AS median_payout_ratio,
round(100 * countIf(s.eps <= 0) / count(), 1) AS pct_no_positive_eps
FROM rungs AS r, snapshot AS s
WHERE s.yield_pct >= r.min_yield_pct
GROUP BY r.min_yield_pct
HAVING countIf(s.eps > 0) > 0
ORDER BY r.min_yield_pct535 companies reach the 2% and up step. Only 10 reach 15% and up, across 8 steps altogether. The median payout ratio for the first step na 63%, compared with 968% for the last one. The share of companies wey no get positive earnings move from 9.5% to 10%.
The useful point here na scarcity. The tail dey become thin quickly, and the companies wey remain there dey look more and more different from the ones lower down the ladder. Na the population-level version of wetin the top 15 dey show one row at a time.
How yield trap dey look month by month
A yield trap na high yield wey come with falling price instead of payout wey dey grow. The clearest way to see am na to hold one name steady and watch the three numbers move together. Walgreens Boots Alliance (WBA) over 24 months, from July 2022 reach June 2024, na period wey dey for past so these figures no go refresh:
The exact SQL behind every number
WITH px AS (
SELECT toStartOfMonth(toDate(toTimeZone(window_start, 'America/New_York'))) AS month_start,
argMax(close, window_start) AS price,
max(toDate(toTimeZone(window_start, 'America/New_York'))) AS last_day
FROM global_markets.delayed_stocks_minute_aggs
WHERE ticker = 'WBA'
AND toDate(toTimeZone(window_start, 'America/New_York')) >= toDate('2022-07-01')
AND toDate(toTimeZone(window_start, 'America/New_York')) <= toDate('2024-06-30')
AND (toHour(toTimeZone(window_start, 'America/New_York')) * 60
+ toMinute(toTimeZone(window_start, 'America/New_York'))) BETWEEN 570 AND 959
GROUP BY month_start
),
dv AS (
SELECT ex_dividend_date, cash_amount
FROM global_markets.stocks_dividends
WHERE ticker = 'WBA'
AND distribution_type = 'recurring'
AND frequency = 4
AND cash_amount > 0
AND ex_dividend_date >= toDate('2021-06-01')
)
SELECT formatDateTime(px.month_start, '%Y-%m') AS month,
formatDateTimeInJodaSyntax(px.month_start, 'MMMM yyyy') AS month_label,
round(any(px.price), 2) AS price,
round(argMax(dv.cash_amount, dv.ex_dividend_date), 2) AS quarterly_dividend_usd,
round(toFloat64(argMax(dv.cash_amount, dv.ex_dividend_date)) * 4
/ toFloat64(any(px.price)) * 100, 2) AS dividend_yield_pct
FROM px, dv
WHERE dv.ex_dividend_date <= px.last_day
GROUP BY px.month_start
ORDER BY px.month_startFor July 2022, the quarterly payment na $0.48 against share price of $39.62, giving yield of 4.82%. By June 2024, the quarterly payment na $0.25 and the price na $12.1, giving yield of 8.27%. The payout reduce during those 24 months, but the yield still finish higher.
Na the whole trap be this one series. Screener wey sort by yield put this name near the top for most of the period, but the yield column no show the price path underneath. When you show payout ratio and payment history beside the yield, ranking turn to something wey reader fit examine properly.
How to reproduce this screen
- Na US-listed names only, based on the latest fundamentals snapshot wey dey on file.
- Funds no dey inside this universe. The screen need reported earnings-per-share figure, so exchange-traded funds and closed-end funds no enter. Their distributions come from portfolio income and capital, no be company earnings, and payout ratio against EPS no tell us anything about them.
- Share price floor na $5, and market value floor na $2 billion. Names below $5 dey trade with wider spreads and thinner books. Yield wey dem calculate on a $1.20 quote fit move several points from just one-cent tick.
- Dem rank REITs and ordinary operating companies together. REIT payout ratio against reported earnings dey regularly pass 100% because depreciation charges push accounting earnings below the cash wey the properties generate. Analysts dey judge REITs with funds from operations instead, so read the payout ratio for any REIT row with that adjustment for mind.
- The 15-name ranking dey keep only companies with positive trailing earnings. The band and rung tables still include companies wey dey make losses. Na there dem report the share of companies wey no get positive earnings.
- The dividend-change column dey compare twelve months of cash with the twelve months before am. Payment timing fit put five payments inside one window and three inside another. That fit move the column even when the declared rate no change.
- Na US screen be this. Reader wey dey look for A-share dividend yield ranking need Shanghai and Shenzhen listings. Those ones no dey inside this data at all. Nothing for this page represent that ranking.
Before the FAQ, make we clarify one definition. The yields here na trailing snapshot readings, no be annualized forward estimates. The two fit differ for any company wey change its payment inside the year. How dividend yield dey calculated cover the arithmetic, while trailing versus forward dividend yield explain why two sites fit quote different numbers for the same stock on the same day.
Highest dividend yield FAQ
Which stock get the highest dividend yield for US now?
For the latest snapshot wey dey on file, the top name for this screen dey yield 20.95%, with 15 names listed down reach 11.55%. The exact name dey change every time dem recompute am. Na why dem publish the screen instead of one ticker.
Double-digit dividend yield too good to be true?
E rare, but e no impossible. Only 10 US-listed companies wey market value pass $2 billion reach 15% and up level. Their median payout ratio na 968%, and 10% of that group no get positive trailing earnings.
Why highest dividend yield stocks dey change so often?
The denominator na live price. Stock go leave the ranking once the price recover or the board cut the payment. A cut often end long period wey the stock dey near the top of the table.
High dividend yield mean say the dividend safe?
Yield by itself no tell us anything about safety. For the 8% and up band, median payout ratio na 124%. Also, 40.6% of the group pay less cash for the last twelve months than dem pay for the twelve months before.
This ranking cover A-share dividend yields?
No. E cover US-listed companies only. A-share dividend yield ranking dey use Shanghai and Shenzhen listings, and none of those figures dey anywhere for this page.
Every figure above come from one stored, versioned query wey use filed dividend records and reported fundamentals. You fit open any panel SQL, or rebuild the screen with your own floors for the Strasmore terminal.