The highest dividend-paying stocks in the S&P 500 can be misleading. At first glance, big dividends appear to imply strong operations and reliable cash flow. However, some of the highest dividend-paying stocks in the S&P are facing steadily declining share prices that offset those payouts.
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After all, dividend yield isn’t just about the payout — it’s also a function of share price. The metric is calculated by dividing a stock’s annual dividend by its current per-share price. When that price falls, the yield can spike, even if payouts remain flat.
In other words, investors should look beyond the headline yield before diving in with expectations of safety or steady income. That’s especially true for the following nine stocks, which yield more than four times the typical S&P 500 stock but have generally seen steep losses even during Wall Street’s recent bull market:
| Stock | Dividend yield |
| Campbell’s Co. (ticker: CPB) | 5.7% |
| VICI Properties Inc. (VICI) | 5.8% |
| Altria Group Inc. (MO) | 6.0% |
| Pfizer Inc. (PFE) | 6.3% |
| HP Inc. (HPQ) | 6.4% |
| Kraft Heinz Co. (KHC) | 6.5% |
| Healthpeak Properties Inc. (DOC) | 7.1% |
| Conagra Brands Inc. (CAG) | 7.3% |
| LyondellBasell Industries N.V. (LYB) | 9.3% |
Campbell’s Co. (CPB)
Dividend yield: 5.7%
Campbell’s is best known for its Campbell’s soups, but it also owns other popular food brands including Prego and Rao’s pasta sauces as well as Goldfish crackers. Campbell’s rebranded in November 2024 to modernize its identity beyond its legacy soup business, but that facelift hasn’t fixed long-running challenges with declining sales and profitability. Leadership changes in the snack division are intended to reignite growth, yet recent news that the company will close its iconic Cape Cod potato chips factory in 2026 is a sign that tough decisions lie ahead. Like several top-yielding S&P 500 stocks, Campbell’s high dividend is partly driven by share price weakness, with CPB stock down more than 30% over the past 12 months.
VICI Properties Inc. (VICI)
Dividend yield: 5.8%
VICI specializes in gaming, hospitality and entertainment real estate. While it’s best known for iconic Las Vegas properties such as Caesars Palace, MGM Grand and the Venetian, this real estate investment trust owns close to 100 “experiential assets,” from casinos and golf courses to upscale bowling centers. Unfortunately, VICI’s stock sits well below its 52-week high, pressured by broader concerns about foreign tourism and consumer spending. The REIT’s preference for long-term lease structures offers some operational stability, but investor sentiment toward the economically sensitive hospitality sector has recently weighed on this top S&P dividend stock.
Altria Group Inc. (MO)
Dividend yield: 6%
The best-performing stock on this list, Altria, has generated roughly 25% returns over the past 12 months. The tobacco giant owns Marlboro, Black & Mild, Copenhagen and Skoal brands, maintaining dominant U.S. market share that has served it well even in an uncertain environment for many stocks. Altria has historically demonstrated strong pricing power to deliver consistent results, including 56 consecutive years of dividend increases. For income investors, this track record of continuously higher yield provides assurance that future distributions are not just safe but likely to continue rising over time.
Pfizer Inc. (PFE)
Dividend yield: 6.3%
Pfizer’s stock has plunged more than 50% from its 2022 highs, hit by a steep decline in vaccine revenue and difficulty keeping pace in the highly competitive pharmaceutical sector. Demand for COVID-19 shots has waned significantly in the past few years, and the company continues to lag peers in the lucrative category of obesity treatments. While this drugmaker has almost two centuries of operating history, shares are flat over the last 12 months even as much of Wall Street has delivered significantly stronger gains.
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HP Inc. (HPQ)
Dividend yield: 6.4%
HP remains one of the most recognizable brands in personal computing and printing. However, the long-term slowdown in PC demand has forced the firm to rethink its strategy, and recent supply chain uncertainty has added to the challenge. Shares have been cut roughly in half over the last year or so, boosting the yield significantly for the wrong reasons. Still, HP has continued to increase its payout from a quarterly distribution of about 19.4 cents per share in 2021 to 30 cents per share today. Investors seeking the top dividend payers in the S&P 500 must weigh this dividend growth against HPQ stock’s recent underperformance.
Kraft Heinz Co. (KHC)
Dividend yield: 6.5%
Rumors of a potential breakup of consumer staples giant Kraft Heinz pushed the company back into headlines last year. Despite the lingering challenges tied to its debt-heavy merger a decade ago — and long-term stock decline of more than 70% from its post-merger highs — the company backtracked on that divorce in February, with a new CEO describing past issues as “fixable.” Rather than take him on faith, however, investors should note that the company cut its quarterly dividend in 2019 and the payout has been stuck at 40 cents ever since. In addition, the stock is down more than 20% in the last 12 months. Neither development is a good sign that Kraft is on the right path, regardless of its leadership’s optimism about the future.
Healthpeak Properties Inc. (DOC)
Dividend yield: 7.1%
Healthpeak owns medical office buildings and retirement communities, with nearly 700 properties and roughly 49 million square feet of health care real estate. However, health care policy uncertainty — including potential Medicaid spending pressures — has weighed on investor sentiment. The company also carries a significant amount of debt, limiting its financial flexibility. However, Healthpeak has a unique plan to win over investors through an initial public offering of some of its assets under the brand Janus Living. That will assuredly change the payout structure after the spinoff. Meanwhile, shares have fallen by double digits over the past year, reflecting continued skepticism in the run-up to this transformational event.
Conagra Brands Inc. (CAG)
Dividend yield: 7.3%
Conagra owns well-known brands like Bird’s Eye, Orville Redenbacher and Swiss Miss, but like many packaged-food companies, it faces rising input costs and shifting consumer preferences. CAG stock has shed almost 30% of its value over the past year, contributing to an ugly five-year loss of about 45%. Just as concerning, this leading S&P 500 dividend stock already distributes about 80% of its earnings as dividends — meaning its appealing yield doesn’t leave much margin for error. That’s not encouraging even in the best of times, and it’s certainly cause for concern given the stock’s recent underperformance.
LyondellBasell Industries N.V. (LYB)
Dividend yield: 9.3%
The highest-yielding S&P 500 stock is currently LyondellBasell, one of the world’s largest producers of plastics and resins. Its specialized products benefit from steady baseline demand and relatively limited competition. However, as a materials company, LyondellBasell is highly cyclical as rising prices can squeeze margins and economic slowdowns reduce demand across the supply chain. On the plus side, management recently raised the quarterly dividend to $1.37 in 2025 — nearly double the 70 cents paid in 2014 — and shares are up about 30% so far in 2026. That said, the stock has lost roughly half its value over the past five years. The key question for investors, then, is if LYB’s struggles will continue or if the outlook is improving for this global materials company.
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9 Highest Dividend-Paying Stocks in the S&P 500 originally appeared on usnews.com
Update 02/25/26: This story was previously published at an earlier date and has been updated with new information.
