More Rate Cuts Are Coming: Grab 6% High-Yield S&P 500 Stocks Now

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Investors love dividend stocks, especially those with high yields, because they provide a substantial income stream and offer significant total return potential. Total return includes interest, capital gains, dividends, and distributions realized over time. In other words, the total return on an investment or a portfolio consists of income and stock appreciation. At 24/7 Wall St., we consistently emphasize the potential of total return to our readers. It is one of the most effective ways to enhance the prospects of overall investing success. Once again, total return refers to the collective increase in a stock’s value, including dividends. With the prospect of an October rate cut looking very positive, now is the time for investors to buy quality high-yield dividend stocks before the October 28-29 Federal Reserve meeting, where they are likely to announce another 25-basis-point rate cut.

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Having more passive income can help cover rising costs like mortgages, insurance, taxes, and other expenses, making it easier for investors to save for future needs as they prepare for retirement. Dependable recurring dividends from quality, high-yield stocks are a recipe for success. Five of the highest-yielding S&P 500 stocks offer incredible, dependable yields from quality blue-chip companies you can buy and hold forever.

Why do we cover the highest-yielding S&P 500 dividend stocks?

Since 1926, dividends have contributed approximately 32% of the total return for the S&P 500, while capital appreciation has contributed 68%. Therefore, sustainable dividend income and capital appreciation potential are essential for total return expectations. A study from Hartford Funds, in collaboration with Ned Davis Research, found that dividend stocks delivered an annualized return of 9.18% over the past half-century (1973 to 2023). Over the same timeline, this was more than double the annualized return for non-payers (3.95%).

Alexandria Real Estate Equities

With a hefty yield and a unique niche in the real estate arena, this outstanding company is trading at a very reasonable valuation with a 6.99% dividend. Alexandria Real Estate Equities Inc. (NYSE: ARE) is an owner, operator, and developer of collaborative life science, agricultural technology, and advanced technology mega campuses in AAA innovation cluster locations, including:

• Greater Boston
• San Francisco Bay Area
• New York City
• San Diego
• Seattle
• Maryland
• Research Triangle

The company, through its venture capital platform, provides strategic capital to life science, agrifoodtech, climate innovation, and technology companies.

Its tenants include:

• Multinational pharmaceutical companies
• Public and private biotechnology companies
• Life science product
• Service and medical device companies
• Digital health
• Technology
• Agtech companies
• Academic and medical research institutions
• United States government research agencies
• Nonprofit organizations
• Venture capital firms

The company has a Labspace asset base predominantly concentrated in markets with barriers to entry.

Robert Baird has a Buy rating and a $102 target price.

Altria

This is one of the world’s largest producers and marketers of cigarettes and tobacco-related products. This tobacco company offers value investors a compelling entry point and a generous 6.35% dividend yield. Altria Group Inc. (NYSE: MO) manufactures and sells smokable and oral tobacco products in the United States.

The company provides cigarettes primarily under the Marlboro brand, as well as:

• Cigars and pipe tobacco, principally under the Black & Mild and Middleton brands
• Moist smokeless tobacco and snus products under the Copenhagen, Skoal, Red Seal, and Husky brands
• on! Oral nicotine pouches
• e-vapor products under the NJOY ACE brand

It sells its tobacco products primarily to wholesalers, including distributors and large retail organizations, such as chain stores.

Altria used to own over 10% of Anheuser-Busch InBev S.A. (NYSE: BUD), the world’s largest brewer. Earlier this year, the company sold 35 million of its 197 million shares through a global secondary offering. That represents 18% of its holdings but still leaves 8% of the outstanding shares in its back pocket. Altria also announced a $2.4 billion stock repurchase plan partially funded by the sale.

Goldman Sachs has a Buy rating with a $72 target price.

Pfizer

Pfizer Inc. (NYSE: PFE) was established in 1849 in New York by two German entrepreneurs. This top pharmaceutical stock was a massive winner in the COVID-19 vaccine sweepstakes, but has been crushed over the past two years as many people have not received boosters. Pfizer discovers, develops, manufactures, markets, distributes, and sells biopharmaceutical products worldwide. It pays a dependable 6.93% dividend, which has risen yearly for the past 14 years.

The company offers medicines and vaccines in various therapeutic areas, including:

• Cardiovascular, metabolic, and women’s health under the Premarin family and Eliquis brands
• Biologics, small molecules, immunotherapies, and biosimilars under the Ibrance, Xtandi, Sutent, Inlyta, Retacrit, Lorbrena, and Braftovi brands
• Sterile injectable and anti-infective medicines and oral COVID-19 treatment under the Sulperazon, Medrol, Zavicefta, Zithromax, Vfend, Panzyga, and Paxlovid brands

Pfizer also provides medicines and vaccines in various therapeutic areas, such as:

• Pneumococcal disease, meningococcal disease, and tick-borne encephalitis
• COVID-19 under the Comirnaty/BNT162b2, Nimenrix, FSME/IMMUN-TicoVac, Trumenba, and the Prevnar family brands
• Biosimilars for chronic immune and inflammatory diseases under the Xeljanz, Enbrel, Inflectra, Eucrisa/Staquis, and Cibinqo brands
• Amyloidosis, hemophilia, and endocrine diseases under the Vyndaqel/Vyndamax, BeneFIX, and Genotropin brands

Pfizer anticipates full-year 2025 revenues in the range of $61.0 billion to $64.0 billion. This includes the expectation that revenues from COVID-19 products in 2025 will be broadly consistent with those in 2024, after excluding approximately $1.2 billion of non-recurring revenue for Paxlovid in 2024.

Jefferies has a Buy rating to go with a $33 target price.

UPS

The delivery giant announced it is cutting its shipping volume for Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN) by more than 50% by the second half of 2026. The company said the move is part of a broader strategy by UPS to focus on more profitable and less risky business segments. United Parcel Service Inc. (NYSE: UPS) provides a range of integrated logistics solutions for customers in more than 200 countries and territories and pays a whopping 7.64% dividend.

Its segments include:

• U.S. Domestic Package
• International Package

The U.S. Domestic Package segment offers a range of domestic air and ground package transportation services in the United States. Its air portfolio offers time-definite, same-day, next-day, two-day, and three-day delivery alternatives as well as air cargo services.

UPS’s ground network enables customers to ship using its day-definite ground service. UPS SurePost provides residential ground service for customers with non-urgent, lightweight residential shipments.

The International Package segment comprises its small package operations in Europe, the Indian subcontinent, the Middle East and Africa, Canada, Latin America, and Asia. It offers a selection of guaranteed day- and time-definite international shipping services. Its supply chain solutions encompass forwarding, logistics, and other related businesses.

UBS has a Buy rating with a $110 target price.

Verizon

Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE: VZ), commonly known as Verizon, is an American multinational telecommunications company that continues to offer tremendous value. It trades 9.13 times its estimated 2026 earnings, is up almost 10% in 2025, and pays a hefty 6.71% dividend. Verizon provides a range of communications, technology, information, and entertainment products and services to consumers, businesses, and government entities worldwide.

It operates in two segments:

• Verizon Consumer Group
• Verizon Business Group

The Consumer segment provides wireless services across the United States through Verizon and TracFone networks, as well as through wholesale and other arrangements.

It also provides fixed wireless access (FWA) broadband through its wireless networks and related equipment and devices, such as:

• Smartphones
• Tablets
• Smartwatches and other wireless-enabled connected devices

The segment also offers wireline services in the Mid-Atlantic and northeastern United States through its fiber-optic network, Verizon Fios product portfolio, and copper-based network.

The Business segment provides wireless and wireline communications services and products, including:

• FWA broadband
• Data
• Video and conferencing
• Corporate networking
• Security and managed network
• Local and long-distance voice

Network access services to deliver various IoT services and products to businesses, government customers, and wireless and wireline carriers in the United States and internationally.

Goldman Sachs has a Buy rating and a price target of $49.

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