10 stocks with a dividend yield above 6%
The highest dividend yield on the market usually doesn't mean the best investment, but rather the greatest investor pessimism. In 2026, when the risk-free alternative, in the form of US bonds, yields 4.7% and the market is speculating more about rate hikes, the equity risk premium for these stocks has shrunk to one to two percentage points. Ten US stocks with yields above 6% are thus grappling with the only question that matters for investors: is the payout covered by cash?
Key points
The risk premium is historically low this year. With a ten-year yield around 4.7%, an investor in most of these stocks gets only 1.4 to 2.2 percentage points extra. For this premium, they take on full equity risk, including the possibility that the dividend will be cut and the share price will fall at the same time.
Seven out of ten yields above 6% arose from price declines, not payout growth. In 2026, a high dividend yield is primarily an indicator of where market pessimism is concentrated. Only two stocks in the overview, one from energy infrastructure and one real estate fund, are actually increasing their payouts over the long term.
The dividend trap was sprung once this year in real time. A chemical producer that was still offering over 8% last year cut its quarterly payout by almost half in February.
The highest stated yield may not be the one the investor actually receives. At one insurer, the 6% yield consists almost entirely of a variable annual dividend declared according to capital position, while the regular quarterly payout corresponds to a yield of 0.2%. At a mining company, figures across data sources range from 3.2% to 8.4% depending on methodology.
A high dividend yield arises in two completely different ways, and the difference between them determines whether it's an opportunity or a trap.
In the first case, the company distributes a large portion of generated cash to shareholders over the long term, and the market accepts this as part of the business model.
In the second case, the share price has fallen sharply and the yield has risen purely mechanically, with the decline itself usually reflecting market fears that the dividend will not be sustainable. In English, the term 'dividend trap' has become established for the second case.
Distinguishing between the two situations is not impossible. The key indicator is the payout ratio, i.e., the proportion of earnings paid out as dividends, and even better, the proportion of free cash flow paid out. If a company consistently pays out more than it earns, a dividend cut is a matter of time, not probability. That is exactly what happened to one of the companies in this overview in 2026.
Moreover, the macroeconomic context this year further disadvantages the entire dividend-stock segment. While in previous years investors were anticipating rate cuts that would support the value of dividend stocks, the current situation is the opposite. Inflation in the US has exceeded the Fed's 2% target for the fifth consecutive year, and the market assigns roughly a two-thirds probability that the central bank, under Kevin Warsh's leadership, will raise rates further in September.
For a dividend investor, this means:
Competition from bonds is significantly stronger than in recent years, while the discount rate applied by the market to future cash flows is rising, pushing down the prices of stocks with long-duration income streams.
The following overview of ten US market stocks with the highest dividend yields therefore focuses not only on the payout amount but primarily on its coverage.
Methodology and data notes
The data shown corresponds to the close of trading on August 3, 2026, and is based on S&P Global Market Intelligence, official company press releases, and their filings with the US Securities and Exchange Commission.
Not all stocks in the overview meet the 6% threshold in the same way.
$PGR meets the criterion only when the variable annual dividend is included. The regular quarterly payout is $0.10, i.e., $0.40 per year, and a yield of approximately 0.2%. The six-percent yield arises solely from the one-time annual dividend declared each December.
$VALE shows a range across data sources from 3.2% to 8.4%. The difference stems from whether the calculation includes so-called interest on equity, a tax-advantaged Brazilian form of payout, and special distributions. We work with a trailing twelve-month figure.
Two companies are about to report earnings. Pfizer releases second-quarter results on August 4, Kraft Heinz on August 5. Data for both stocks may change within days.
Ticker | Company | Sector | Price | Annual dividend | Yield | Market cap |
Pfizer | Pharmaceuticals | $25.0 | $1.72 | 6.88% | $143 bn | |
Progressive | Insurance | $205 | $13.90 (TTM) | 6.57% | $122 bn | |
Energy Transfer | Midstream energy | $20.2 | $1.35 | 6.71% | $70 bn | |
VICI Properties | REIT | $27.1 | $1.80 | 6.78% | $29 bn | |
General Mills | Food | $37.5 | $2.44 | 6.78% | $19 bn | |
United Parcel Service | Logistics | $104.5 | $6.56 | 6.14% | $91 bn | |
Altria | Tobacco | $68.3 | $4.24 | 6.21% | $114 bn | |
Kraft Heinz | Food | $26.4 | $1.60 | 6.1% | ~$31 bn | |
Vale | Mining | $15.0 | $0.91 (TTM) | 6.48% | $62 bn | |
LyondellBasell | Chemicals | $59.2 | $2.76 | 4.55% | $19 bn |