Highest-Yielding Dividends That Are Safe To Hold

Dividends are considered among the most straightforward measures of capital returns. After all, they represent cash going back into the hands of investors directly from the company. However, a high dividend yield does not give a complete picture of the value of an investment. The health of the company also has to be considered. Investors need to be able to differentiate a high dividend from a safe dividend.

To identify the highest-yielding S&P 500 stocks that are safe for investors, 24/7 Wall St. reviewed the 99 S&P 500 companies that are currently paying dividends of 3% or more. While the three highest dividends in the S&P 500 are in communications, none satisfy all of our screen criteria. These are the highest-yielding dividends that are actually safe to hold: FirstEnergy Dividend yield: 6%, AT&T Dividend yield: 5.3%, Entergy Dividend yield: 5.2%, Reynolds American Dividend yield: 5.1% and Southern Co. Dividend yield: 4.9%.

Source: USA Today

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