4 High-Yield Dividend Stocks You Can Buy Today and Hold Forever

Income investors have had a strong 2026. Altria (NYSE:MO) shares are up 39.04% year to date, Enterprise Products Partners (NYSE:EPD) is up 25.03%, and Verizon (NYSE:VZ) has gained 17.44%. Even so, these three and Realty Income (NYSE:O) all still yield close to 6%. I ran each one through payout ratios, cash coverage, leverage, and dividend history using third-quarter 2026 results to see which payouts can hold up for decades.

Stock Annual Dividend Yield Streak Status Verizon $2.83 6.3% 19 years Neither Altria $4.44 5.8% 61 increases in 57 years King Realty Income $3.258 5.7% 30+ years Aristocrat Enterprise Products $2.24 5.9% 27 years Aristocrat-equivalent Verizon’s Free Cash Flow Covers the Dividend Twice Over

Verizon’s turnaround is producing cash. Third-quarter free cash flow reached $7.8 billion, its highest since 2020, while promotional acquisition costs fell 41%. Notably, subscriber growth is being achieved without heavy subsidies. Postpaid phone net adds of 406,000 were the best third quarter in five years.

Metric Value Assessment Earnings payout (guided EPS $5.04 to $5.06) 56.0% Healthy FCF payout ($8.8B dividends vs. $18B FCF, YTD) 48.9% Healthy Operating cash flow coverage 3.4x Strong Net unsecured debt/adj. EBITDA 2.3x Manageable Total debt $166.2B Heavy

Debt is the weak spot. Interest expense rose 17.2% year over year, and management expects to reach its leverage target in 2027. Dividend growth is slow: the quarterly rate is up 10.5% since January 2022, and the latest increase was 2.5%. CFO Tony Skiadas said on the Q3 call, “We remain committed to growing the dividend and delivering enhanced returns to our shareholders through share repurchases.” Buybacks on top of the dividend suggest management sees ample financial flexibility.

Altria’s 78% Payout Is High, but 64.5% Margins Back It Up

Altria’s product line is contracting, yet it still has strong pricing power. Adjusted cigarette volumes fell an estimated 4% in Q3, but price increases of 4.4% and a 64.5% adjusted margin raised adjusted EPS 4.8%.

Metric Value Assessment Earnings payout (guided EPS $5.66 to $5.74) 77.9% Raised Dividends paid, first nine months $5.3B Large Debt/EBITDA 1.9x Manageable Shareholders’ equity -$2.225B Buyback legacy Cash $2.697B Enough

Altria didn’t break out Q3 free cash flow or operating cash flow on its call, so you can’t calculate an FCF payout ratio for Altria. That gap matters for a payout this high. Leverage stands right at the target of about two times. The latest increase was 4.7%, the quarterly rate is up 23.3% since 2022, and management is aiming mid-single-digit growth through 2028. CEO Sal Mancuso said, “Our highly cash-generative businesses supported significant returns to shareholders through dividends and share repurchases.”

Realty Income’s AFFO Payout Sits Near Historic Lows

Realty Income owns 15,536 properties rented to 1,842 clients at 98.8% occupancy. Depreciation drives GAAP earnings down, which makes the GAAP payout look like 209.5%, so adjusted funds from operations (AFFO) is the better measure.

Metric Value Assessment AFFO payout (guided $4.45 to $4.46) 73.1% Healthy for a REIT Implied FCF payout (5.36% yield vs. 7.09% FCF yield) 75.6% Enough Net debt/EBITDA (TTM) 7.81x Raised Interest coverage 1.42x Close Liquidity $5.4B Solid buffer

Management’s pro forma leverage figure is lower, at 5.4x, and more than 94% of debt is fixed rate. Still, interest expense rose to $333.6M from $294.5M. The company has now raised its dividend for 116 consecutive quarters, though each increase is small: the monthly rate is up just 10.1% since 2022. CEO Sumit Roy said, “If you look at our AFFO payout ratio, it’s amongst the lowest it has been in the history of Realty Income.”

Enterprise Products Partners Covers Its Payout 1.9x

Enterprise runs toll-road pipelines that set volume records in Q3, including 14.8 million barrels per day equivalent. Distributable cash flow grew 27% to $2.3 billion, leaving $1.1 billion after distributions.

Metric Value Assessment DCF coverage 1.9x Strong Distributions plus buybacks as % of adj. CFO 54% Healthy Q3 earnings payout ($0.56 vs. $0.75 EPS) 74.7% Enough Net leverage 2.9x Within aiming Fixed-rate debt 96% Low rate risk

The distribution is up 20.4% since early 2022. Co-CEO Randy Fowler said the partnership favors “targeted organic growth that has historically provided higher and more consistent returns on capital with fewer surprises.” He also warned that 2027 “may be more modest.” Investors should also know that the partnership structure means a K-1 tax form each year.

Enterprise and Verizon Lead a Group Built for Decades of Income

• Enterprise Products Partners: Very Safe. Coverage of 1.9x and leverage inside its target range give it the largest margin of safety in this group.
• Verizon: Safe. A sub-50% FCF payout offsets the debt load.
• Realty Income: Safe. The AFFO payout is comfortable, but 1.42x interest coverage leaves little room for error.
• Altria: Safe. A Dividend King with low leverage, though its 78% payout is the closest of the four.

All four payouts look durable if Verizon keeps paying down debt on schedule, Altria’s price increases keep outpacing volume declines, and Realty Income keeps buying properties at about 170 basis points above its cost of capital. Caution would be warranted if long-term interest rates compress Realty Income’s interest coverage further, or if Altria’s cigarette volumes decline faster than the current 4% annual rate. Next quarter, I’ll be following Verizon’s leverage path and Enterprise’s 2027 capital budget. For readers who want the largest pool of multi-decade growers at today’s prices, we ranked ten of them in a free Dividend Kings report.