5 Top Dividend Stocks Yielding Over 5% to Buy for Passive Income

Core Viewpoint - Investing in dividend stocks provides a significant opportunity for generating passive income, with several companies currently offering yields above 5%, substantially higher than the S&P 500's sub-1.5% yield [1] Group 1: Alexandria Real Estate Equities - Alexandria Real Estate Equities focuses on life science properties and has a current dividend yield exceeding 7% [3] - The company allocates 57% of its funds from operations to dividends and has achieved a 4.5% annual dividend growth since the end of 2020 [3] Group 2: Clearway Energy - Clearway Energy owns clean energy generation assets and currently offers a dividend yield of nearly 6% [4] - The company aims to distribute 70% to 80% of its stable cash flow as dividends and projects cash available for distribution to grow from $2.08 per share this year to over $2.60 per share by 2027 [5][6] Group 3: Enbridge - Enbridge is a leading North American pipeline and utility company with a current dividend yield of 6% [7] - The company pays out 60% to 70% of its steady cash flow in dividends and has plans for 3% to 5% annual growth in earnings and dividends, having increased its dividend for 30 consecutive years [8] Group 4: NNN REIT - NNN REIT focuses on income-generating freestanding net lease retail properties and currently has a dividend yield of around 5.5% [9] - The REIT expects to generate sufficient cash to cover its dividend with approximately $200 million to spare this year, having raised its dividend for 35 consecutive years [10] Group 5: Verizon - Verizon is one of the largest mobile and broadband companies in the U.S., with a dividend yield exceeding 6% [11] - The company generated $19.8 billion in free cash flow last year, covering its $11.2 billion dividend outlay, and plans to continue investing heavily in growth, including a $20 billion acquisition of Frontier Communications [12] Group 6: Common Features of Dividend Stocks - The highlighted dividend stocks share characteristics of generating stable cash flow, which supports high-yielding dividends while allowing for business growth and routine dividend increases [13]