Which dividends are safe?
A high yield is only worth having if the company can keep paying it. Dividends are cut when earnings stop covering them, cash flow turns unreliable or debt gets heavy, so checking those three things matters more than the yield itself.
Updated Sep 25, 2026
7
Few look safe
108 S&P 500 stocks yield 3% or more. 8 of them pass our safety checks: earnings cover the dividend, cash flow is steady and the balance sheet is strong.
Median yield of payers 1.9%49 pay out more than they earn
Dividend payers yielding 2.5% or more
Ranked by safety, then by yield. Select a row for its chart. Select a column to sort.
| Company | Safety | Yield | Paid out of earnings | Reliable cash | Balance sheet | Sector | Durability, 5 years |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PGR Progressive Corporation | 93Safe | 6.8% | 2% Looks low for the yield | 61 | 63 | Financials | |
| MTB M&T Bank | 84Safe | 2.7% | 35% | 61 | 90 | Financials | |
| RF Regions Financial Corporation | 81Safe | 4.0% | 45% | 61 | 96 | Financials | |
| WRB W. R. Berkley Corporation | 79Safe | 2.8% | 29% | 61 | 70 | Financials | |
| SNA Snap-on | 74Safe | 2.6% | 50% | 56 | 96 | Industrials | |
| CVS CVS Health | 72Safe | 3.0% | 29% | 57 | 62 | Health Care | |
| ERIE Erie Indemnity | 71Safe | 2.6% | 42% | 61 | 77 | Financials | |
| CME CME Group | 71Safe | 4.3% | 48% | 61 | 83 | Financials | |
| CFG Citizens Financial Group | 71Safe | 2.8% | 45% | 61 | 80 | Financials | |
| PPG PPG Industries | 70Safe | 2.7% | 39% | 71 | 62 | Materials | |
| TROW T. Rowe Price | 70Safe | 4.9% | 52% | 61 | 87 | Financials | |
| PFG Principal Financial Group | 69Safe | 2.8% | 43% | 61 | 75 | Financials | |
| ACN Accenture | 67Safe | 3.7% | 50% | 58 | 81 | Information Technology | |
| EXE Expand Energy | 67Safe | 2.6% | 26% | 59 | 45 | Energy | |
| DUK Duke Energy | 65Safe | 3.8% | 98% | 67 | 94 | Utilities | |
| EOG EOG Resources | 65Safe | 2.9% | 38% | 59 | 64 | Energy | |
| NEE NextEra Energy | 64Safe | 3.2% | 54% | 95 | 45 | Utilities | |
| XOM ExxonMobil | 64Safe | 2.6% | 62% | 59 | 86 | Energy | |
| FIS Fidelity National Information Services | 60Safe | 4.9% | 25% | 58 | 37 | Financials | |
| AIG American International Group | 59Watch | 2.6% | 32% | 61 | 46 | Financials | |
| PEG Public Service Enterprise Group | 57Watch | 3.9% | 52% | 84 | 45 | Utilities | |
| SYY Sysco | 56Watch | 2.8% | 60% | 57 | 77 | Consumer Staples | |
| TAP Molson Coors Beverage Company | 56Watch | 5.3% | 30% | 57 | 43 | Consumer Staples | |
| HPQ HP Inc. | 56Watch | 3.8% | 46% | 58 | 62 | Information Technology | |
| ADM Archer Daniels Midland | 55Watch | 2.6% | 99% | 57 | 91 | Consumer Staples | |
| TSCO Tractor Supply | 54Watch | 2.9% | 50% | 59 | 63 | Consumer Discretionary | |
| MOS Mosaic Company (The) | 53Watch | 3.8% | 17% | 29 | 43 | Materials | |
| BBY Best Buy | 53Watch | 4.2% | 69% | 59 | 74 | Consumer Discretionary | |
| POOL Pool Corporation | 52Watch | 3.1% | 98% | 56 | 85 | Consumer Discretionary | |
| AEP American Electric Power | 52Watch | 3.2% | 66% | 84 | 45 | Utilities | |
| PRU Prudential Financial | 51Watch | 4.6% | 68% | 61 | 68 | Financials | |
| LMT Lockheed Martin | 50Watch | 2.7% | 51% | 56 | 61 | Industrials | |
| AES AES Corporation | 49Watch | 4.7% | 23% | 28 | 45 | Utilities | |
| PNC PNC Financial Services | 49Watch | 3.1% | 40% | 61 | 39 | Financials | |
| OMC Omnicom Group | 48Watch | 4.2% | 40% | 59 | 41 | Communication Services | |
| PG Procter & Gamble | 48Watch | 2.9% | 61% | 57 | 63 | Consumer Staples | |
| HRL Hormel Foods | 47Watch | 5.9% | 95% | 57 | 74 | Consumer Staples | |
| SBAC SBA Communications | 46Watch | 2.9% | 52% | 62 | 47 | Real Estate | |
| ATO Atmos Energy | 46Watch | 2.5% | 57% | 67 | 45 | Utilities | |
| DRI Darden Restaurants | 46Watch | 3.1% | 65% | 59 | 59 | Consumer Discretionary | |
| NKE Nike, Inc. | 45Watch | 4.6% | 99% | 59 | 72 | Consumer Discretionary | |
| WEC WEC Energy Group | 45Watch | 3.7% | 98% | 84 | 45 | Utilities | |
| COP ConocoPhillips | 44Watch | 2.6% | 53% | 59 | 50 | Energy | |
| FE FirstEnergy | 42Watch | 4.2% | 61% | 67 | 45 | Utilities | |
| GPC Genuine Parts Company | 41Watch | 3.3% | 64% | 59 | 54 | Consumer Discretionary | |
| XEL Xcel Energy | 40Watch | 3.4% | 62% | 67 | 45 | Utilities | |
| SO Southern Company | 40Watch | 3.6% | 63% | 67 | 45 | Utilities | |
| USB U.S. Bancorp | 39Watch | 3.5% | 45% | 61 | 34 | Financials | |
| ADP Automatic Data Processing | 39Watch | 2.6% | 61% | 56 | 51 | Industrials | |
| CAG Conagra Brands | 38Watch | 8.6% | 37% | 57 | 26 | Consumer Staples | |
| LOW Lowe's | 37Watch | 2.6% | 42% | 59 | 30 | Consumer Discretionary | |
| PPL PPL Corporation | 37Watch | 3.5% | 69% | 67 | 45 | Utilities | |
| ED Consolidated Edison | 37Watch | 3.4% | 71% | 67 | 45 | Utilities | |
| FITB Fifth Third Bancorp | 36Watch | 3.1% | 45% | 61 | 28 | Financials | |
| ZTS Zoetis | 35Watch | 2.9% | 34% | 57 | 18 | Health Care | |
| VICI Vici Properties | 35Watch | 7.7% | 70% | 62 | 47 | Real Estate | |
| IVZ Invesco | 35Watch | 2.7% | 33% | 61 | 12 | Financials | |
| CLX Clorox | 34Watch | 5.9% | 88% | 57 | 57 | Consumer Staples | |
| HST Host Hotels & Resorts | 34Watch | 7.4% | 74% | 17 | 93 | Real Estate | |
| HD Home Depot (The) | 33Watch | 3.2% | 67% | 59 | 46 | Consumer Discretionary | |
| F Ford Motor Company | 33Watch | 4.7% | 9% Looks low for the yield | 16 | 19 | Consumer Discretionary | |
| SJM J.M. Smucker Company (The) | 33Watch | 3.7% | 33% | 57 | 14 | Consumer Staples | |
| BXP BXP, Inc. | 32Watch | 4.4% | 86% | 62 | 47 | Real Estate | |
| HSY Hershey Company (The) | 32Watch | 3.4% | 75% | 57 | 49 | Consumer Staples | |
| TGT Target Corporation | 31Watch | 2.9% | 58% | 9 | 86 | Consumer Staples | |
| KMB Kimberly-Clark | 31Watch | 5.2% | 83% | 57 | 51 | Consumer Staples | |
| MKC McCormick & Company | 30Watch | 3.9% | 53% | 57 | 34 | Consumer Staples | |
| FRT Federal Realty Investment Trust | 30Watch | 4.1% | 96% | 62 | 47 | Real Estate | |
| CMCSA Comcast | 30At risk | 6.0% | 46% | 59 | 23 | Communication Services | |
| AMT American Tower | 30At risk | 4.1% | 96% | 62 | 47 | Real Estate | |
| PEP PepsiCo | 29At risk | 4.5% | 76% | 57 | 46 | Consumer Staples | |
| KEY KeyCorp | 29At risk | 4.0% | 50% | 61 | 25 | Financials | |
| HAS Hasbro | 28At risk | 3.2% | 49% | 59 | 24 | Consumer Discretionary | |
| OTIS Otis Worldwide | 28At risk | 2.6% | 44% | 56 | 20 | Industrials | |
| STZ Constellation Brands | 23At risk | 3.6% | 37% | 57 | 6 | Consumer Staples | |
| HBAN Huntington Bancshares | 22At risk | 4.0% | 45% | 61 | 12 | Financials | |
| DPZ Domino's | 21At risk | 2.6% | 46% | 59 | 13 | Consumer Discretionary | |
| EIX Edison International | 20At risk | 6.6% | 48% | 28 | 45 | Utilities | |
| BMY Bristol Myers Squibb | 19At risk | 4.0% | 53% | 57 | 20 | Health Care | |
| UPS United Parcel Service | 19At risk | 7.0% | 130% Above earnings | 56 | 53 | Industrials |
How to read this page
How it’s measured. S&P 500 dividend payers. Yields use the last twelve months of dividends and the latest price.
Sources. Daily prices, company financial statements and dividend records from Financial Modeling Prep.
Safety ranks each payer from 0 to 100 on three checks: how much of its earnings the dividend uses, how reliably it turns profit into free cash, and the strength of its balance sheet. Paying out more than it earns, or paying while losing money, caps the score below 20.
These checks describe the dividend’s footing today. They are not a promise that it will be kept or raised.
This page is information, not investment advice. About our data and methods ›
More on dividends and buybacks
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