The Highest-Yielding Dividend Aristocrats Deliver 5%-6% Yields and Safety

24/7 on Wall St., We’ve been following dividend-paying stocks closely for over 15 years. With a growing audience of savvy Baby Boomers and retirees looking for safe income ideas that provide more than the 4% biannual dividend on the 10-year Treasury note, we’ve reviewed hundreds of stocks, looking for recurring, reliable dividend payments and a degree of safety that allows for a good night’s sleep. One stock we always recommend is Dividend Aristocrats. In terms of dividend safety and reliability, they are among the best ideas for growth and income investors.

• With the increasing potential for a rate cut in December, dividend stocks could get a nice tailwind for the end of the year.

• Dividend Aristocrats are solid ideas for nervous investors who think a bigger correction is coming sooner or later.

• Given the potential for a year-end Santa rally, catching the currently highest dividend-yielding Aristocrats could be quite the home run.

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Investors Those looking for defensive companies that pay significant dividends turn to Dividend Aristocrats, and for good reason. The 66 companies that made the cut on the 2025 S&P 500 Dividend Aristocrats list have increased (not just maintained) their dividends for 25 consecutive years. But the requirements go further; The following qualifications are also mandatory for membership in the list of aristocrats:

• For each quarterly rebalancing, companies must be valued at at least $3 billion.

• Average daily trading volume of at least $5 million for each subsequent quarter on each quarterly rebalancing date.

• They must be members of the S&P 500.

we scanned Dividend Aristocrats ranks the five highest-yielding companies, and all five look like outstanding ideas for growth and income investors looking for reliable, growing dividends. All have a Buy rating on the top Wall Street firms we cover.

S&P 500 Companies that have been paying and increasing dividends for 25 years or more are the types that growth and income investors will want to buy and hold in their stock portfolios for the long term. These stocks are mostly conservative and will hold their ground much better than volatile tech names if we see a dramatic market correction.

this company An excellent idea as their products are always in demand and pay dividends of 6.03%. Amcor PLC (NYSE: AMCR) provides packaging solutions for consumer and healthcare products. The company develops sustainable packaging in flexible and rigid formats for multiple materials and operates in two segments.

They are flexible The segment consists of operations that produce flexible and film packaging in the food and beverage, medical and pharmaceutical, fresh produce, snack food, personal care and other industries.

Hard The packaging segment consists of operations that produce rigid containers primarily for beverage and food products, including:

of the company its subsidiaries include Amcor Flexible North America, Amcor UK Finance and Amcor Finance (USA).

Morgan Stanley It has an Overweight rating with a target price of $11.50.

Franklin Resources Inch. (NYSE: BEN) is among the most prominent global money managers. The firm markets mutual funds and institutional separate accounts under the Franklin, Templeton and Mutual Series brands and pays a solid dividend of 5.81%. Sometimes 50% of its sales come from outside the United States; This is an advantage considering the maturing US market.

Franklin Resources offers its products and services under the following brands:

from 2023 to 2025 The bull market has been a strong headwind for the company; but the recent sell-off has left shares looking incredibly cheap. While the pullback of baby boomers is concerning, the path forward in 2026 also looks solid as stocks rebound from their April lows.

Goldman Sachs It has a Buy rating with a target price of $29.

Real Estate Income Corp. (NYSE: O) is a real estate investment trust that invests in detached, single-tenant commercial properties. This is an ideal stock for growth and income investors looking for a safer, contrarian investment for the remainder of 2025 with a monthly dividend of 5.66%. Realty Income is an S&P 500 company that provides reliable monthly income to its shareholders.

company It purchases and manages detached commercial properties that generate rental income under long-term net lease agreements with its commercial customers.

engaged in a single business activity: renting property to customers, usually on a net basis. This business activity spans a variety of geographic boundaries and includes a variety of property types and clients across multiple industries.

company It owns or has interests in approximately 15,621 properties in the following regions:

• All 50 United States

• United Kingdom

• France

• Germany

• Ireland

• Italy

• Portugal

• Spain

with customers Operating across 89 sectors, real estate types include retail, industrial, gaming and other sectors such as agriculture and office.

its primary Industry concentrations include:

• markets

• markets

• dollar stores

• Pharmacies

• home improvement stores

• restaurants

• fast service

UBS is a Buy rating with a $66 price target.

Target Corp. (NYSE: TGT) is an American retail company that owns a chain of discount stores and hypermarkets. This company remains a solid and safe retail total return play, and after a tough 2025 with a near 24% decline, it’s an excellent buy, trading at 14x forward earnings with a strong dividend yield of 5.20%.

Aim is a general merchandise retailer in the United States offering clothing, as well as jewelry, accessories, and shoes for women, men, boys, girls, toddlers, babies, and newborns. The company also offers a variety of beauty and personal care products, baby items, cleaning supplies, paper products and pet care products. It also provides:

• Dry groceries, dairy products, frozen foods, beverages, confectionery, snacks, deli, bakery, meat and food service

• Electronic products including video game hardware and software

• Toys, entertainment, sporting goods and luggage

• Furniture, lighting, storage, kitchenware, small appliances, home decoration, bedding and bathroom

• home improvement

• School/office supplies

• Greeting cards, party supplies and other seasonal items

In addition, The company sells products through periodic design and creative partnerships, shop-in-shop experiences and in-store amenities. It also sells its products through its stores and digital channels, including Target.com.

company A few years ago, it had a “Bud Light” moment after a disastrous sales campaign for LGBTQ products that was frustrating among many shoppers. While not as severe as the beer giants’ standoff, it was a significant negative that has apparently subsided.

Evercore HEAT He assigned a positive rating and a $100 target price.

This is American The food processing company was founded in Austin, Minnesota, in 1891. With a very reliable dividend and many well-known products, Hormel Foods Corp. (NYSE: HRL) is now a very safe investment offering a 5.02% dividend yield. The company develops, processes and distributes a variety of meat, nut and other food products to retail, food service, deli and commercial customers in the United States and internationally.

working through three segments:

• Retail

• Food Service

• International

Hormel It is the Dividend King with over 50 years of dividend increases and is a consumer staples company focused on protein-based packaged foods. Its yield is historically high, and the Hormel Foundation’s oversight ensures dividend reliability. Reports indicate that it is restructuring its portfolio and cutting costs to improve performance.

company provides a variety of perishable items including fresh meats, frozen items, refrigerated meal solutions, sausages, hams, guacamoles and bacon, and shelf-stable products including canned lunch meats, nut butters, snack nuts, chili, shelf-stable microwavable meals, hash, casseroles, tortillas, salsas, tortilla chips, nutritional supplements and others.

He sells his own product Products under these brands:

• Hormel

• Always Tender

• Applegate

• Austin Blues

• bacon 1

• Black Label

• Bread is Ready

• Burke

• Cafe H

• Ceratti

• Chi-Chi’s

• columbus

• completed

• Corn Nuts

• Treatment 81

• Dan’s Award

• Di Lusso

• dinty moore

• Don Miguel

• Dona Maria

• Embasa

• Quick and Easy

• Fire Roasting

• Fontanini

• Happy Little Plants

• Herdez

• Hormel Meetings

• Hormel Square Table

• Hormel Hayati Cuisine

• Tsang House

• Jennie-O

• Justin’s

• La Victoria

• Order

• Lloyd’s

• Meryem Cuisine

• Mr. Peanut

• Natural Selection

• Nutrition

• old smokehouse

• Oven Ready

• Pillow Package

• breeders

• Rosa Grande

• Sadler’s Smokehouse

• skippy

• spam

• Special Recipe

• Thick and Easy

• Valley Fresh

• Completely

JP Morgan It has an Overweight rating and a $27 target price.

Our December High-Yield 6% Dividend Stocks Have Large Total Return Potential

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