2 Rock-Solid Dividend Stocks to Buy Without Hesitation

Key Points

• Coca-Cola boasts 30 billion-dollar brands and has competitive advantages and a wide economic moat.

• Ford's Ford Pro is a thriving, high-margin, commercial business.

• 10 stocks we like better than Ford Motor Company ›

Dividend stocks are highly desirable for their ability to generate regular income, building investors' portfolio wealth through the power of compounding, and they can also provide a buffer to market volatility. If you're looking for two rock-solid dividend stocks backed by stable and mature businesses, look no further than two juggernauts of their respective industries: Coca-Cola (NYSE: KO) and Ford Motor Company (NYSE: F)

Sipping success

Coca-Cola is a behemoth beverage leader across the globe with just about unmatched reach. Consider: The company has about 120,000 suppliers with about 3,000 production lines and 5,000 warehouses, all serving up 2.2 billion servings of Coca-Cola products per day -- it's an absolute machine.

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While Coca-Cola is a household name just about anybody will recognize, that doesn't give the company enough credit for evolving its beverage products. Coca-Cola has proven capable of thriving under changing market conditions and can seemingly create brands out of thin air. In fact, Coca-Cola boasts 30 billion-dollar brands, with half of those created organically while another three were added through acquisitions and 12 were created after acquisitions.

Coca-Cola's brands, and its business in general, can perform even despite the economic uncertainty and volatile geopolitical conditions we see currently. The company still expects to log organic revenue growth this year between 5% and 6%, with free cash flow -- excluding the Fairlife payment -- around $9.5 billion.

Ultimately, Coca-Cola offers investors a rare collection of competitive advantages and reach, brand image, organic growth, and a long list of billion-dollar brands to help carry the company into the future. The company's 3% dividend yield is twice that of the S&P 500 average and is consistently increased. If you're looking for a rock-solid dividend, Coca-Cola remains an amazing option.

Thriving commercial business

Ford Motor Company is known for producing and selling vehicles of all shapes, sizes, and powertrains, across the globe. It's also known for its robust dividend yield that sits around 5% as I write this and rewards long-term investors with consistent (mostly) dividend income. Even better, Ford often dishes out supplemental dividends to investors, such as earlier this year when the Detroit icon declared its first-quarter regular dividend of $0.15 per share, plus a supplemental dividend of an additional $0.15 per share.

What's a little unique about Ford's high-yield dividend is that the company also offers potential upside with its business growth; dividend stocks aren't typically known for high growth. But that's what Ford Pro offers -- that's Ford's division responsible for its commercial-vehicle business, and its margins are impressive.

Ford trucks are a big part of its commercial business. Image source: Ford Motor Company.

Consider that Ford's traditional business, Ford Blue, generated $757 million in earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) during the first half of 2025 at a 2.6% margin. Then compare that to Ford Pro, which generated $3.6 billion EBIT over the same time frame at a 10.7% margin.

These numbers and comparisons will vary from quarter to quarter, but to be clear, Ford Pro's business is very strong and getting stronger. In fact, in the second quarter, software and physical services contributed 17% of Ford Pro's EBIT on a 12-month basis, which is typically higher-margin business, and Ford Pro paid subscriptions grew 25% year-over-year to 757,000.

While the automotive industry is far from a perfect picture of stability, especially with tariff uncertainty looming in the near term, Ford can offer some buffer to the industry's up and downs with its solid balance sheet that boasts $28.4 billion in cash and $46.6 billion in liquidity, as of the end of the second quarter.

Which is for you?

Not all dividends are created equal, and in this case there are two distinct options. Investors could go with the safer Coca-Cola, which offers a plethora of billion-dollar brands and is evolving toward new consumer tastes, but offers a lower dividend yield. Or, they could go for Ford in a more volatile industry with tariff uncertainty, but be rewarded with a company that boasts a solid balance sheet and high-yield dividend, with the bonus of possible supplemental dividends. Or maybe there's no need to choose. Both of these companies have proven to be rock-solid dividend options.

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Daniel Miller has positions in Ford Motor Company. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.