Want Safe Dividend Income in 2025 and Beyond? Invest in the Following 2 Ultra-High-Yield Stocks.

Key Points

• The S&P 500 has a dividend yield close to an all-time low.

• Altria Group and Verizon Communications both have ultra-high dividends yielding above 6%.

• Both businesses will generate stable cash flows and provide reliable income for investors in the coming years.

• 10 stocks we like better than Verizon Communications ›

As the market keeps poking to all-time highs, it seems like it is harder and harder to find stocks with high dividend yields. The S&P 500 index is trading at a dividend yield of just 1.19%, one of its lowest levels ever, meaning that for every $100 you invest in a stock market index fund, you only get $1.19 of income into your account every year. Risk-free United States Treasury bonds have significantly higher yields than the market right now.

And yet, there are still a few quality stocks out there that can provide investors some juicy dividend income in 2025. Two that come to mind are Altria Group (NYSE: MO) and Verizon Communications (NYSE: VZ). Both stocks have dividend yields above 6% and plenty of room to grow dividend payouts for shareholders in the years to come.

Where to invest $1,000 right now? Our analyst team just revealed what they believe are the 10 best stocks to buy right now. Learn More »

Here's why you should consider adding them to your portfolio if you want safe dividend income in 2025 and beyond.

Image source: Getty Images.

Altria's steady cash flow

Altria is a tobacco giant that focuses on the United States market. It sells Marlboro cigarettes, discount cigarette brands, cigars, and increasingly new-age products such as electronic vapor and nicotine pouches. With a quarterly dividend of $1.06, the stock recently had an annualized dividend yield of 6.3%, which is significantly higher than the market average.

Investors have discounted the future for tobacco companies because of reduced usage among the wider population. However, the business is still solidly profitable due to price increases on packs of cigarettes.

Over the last 12 months, Altria's free cash flow was $8.7 billion, which was close to an all-time high. Through the first half of this year its adjusted earnings per share (EPS) has grown by 7.2% even though cigarette volumes declined by 12%. Price increases are a consistent method to counteract inflation and have helped the cigarette brands grow earnings for the last 50 years, even though usage has declined.

What's more, Altria Group is seeing promise from some of its newer-age products such as On! nicotine pouches, which grew volumes 26.5% year over year last quarter. The company is also optimizing its balance sheet by repurchasing shares of its stock. Shares outstanding are down around 10% in the last five years, which makes it easier for the company to grow its dividend-per-share payout even if remains a slow-growth business. This is why free cash flow per share has grown by 17% in the last five years. As free cash flow per share grows, so does the company's capacity to grow its dividend per share.

At a dividend yield of 6.3%, Altria Group is a steady income stock investors can rely on for years to come.

Verizon's infrastructure advantage

Another mainstay in the United States is Verizon Communications, one of the largest wireless phone plan providers and telecommunications companies in the nation. Verizon is not a rapidly growing business, but through its immense infrastructure spending over the decades it has built up a competitive edge that makes it very hard for competitors to break through.

This year alone, it is expecting to spend $18 billion on capital expenditures but is still guiding for around $20 billion in 2025 free cash flow. The company is doing well with smartphone plans, putting up steady figures in this sector, but is growing quickly in home internet with its fixed wireless product that bypasses traditional wired or Wi-Fi systems for home internet. Fixed wireless subscribers surpassed 5 million last quarter, which helped total revenue grow 5% year over year.

At its current quarterly payout, Verizon has a dividend yield of 6.1%. Again, this is underrating the durability of Verizon's business and infrastructure advantage when providing mobile and internet services in the United States. Few companies have the scale to compete in this field, and even innovations such as SpaceX's Starlink remain niche players. For steady dividend income, buy Verizon Communications stock and hold it for the long term.

Should you invest $1,000 in Verizon Communications right now?

Before you buy stock in Verizon Communications, consider this:

The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the 10 best stocks for investors to buy now… and Verizon Communications wasn’t one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years.

Consider when Netflix made this list on December 17, 2004... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $651,599!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $1,067,639!*

Now, it’s worth noting Stock Advisor’s total average return is 1,049% — a market-crushing outperformance compared to 185% for the S&P 500. Don’t miss out on the latest top 10 list, available when you join Stock Advisor.

See the 10 stocks »

*Stock Advisor returns as of August 25, 2025

Brett Schafer has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool recommends Verizon Communications. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.