High-Yield Stocks: Safe or Snake Oil?

Here’s a trick: if you invest $16,700 in a stock yielding 6%, you get $1,000 a year. The S&P 500? Its average yield is 1.2%. To match that $1,000, you’d need $83,000. So it goes.

High yields tempt. But temptations often have teeth. A dividend cut? That’s a double loss: income gone, value lost. So it goes.

Three stocks now offer more than 6%: Pfizer, Verizon, Altria. Let’s see if they’re worth the risk. So it goes.

Pfizer

Pfizer’s 7.2% yield feels like a miracle. But miracles require maintenance. Its 347th consecutive dividend? A record. Yet its payout ratio is 90%, and its vaccine profits are fading. Free cash flow covers dividends, but so does a lifeline. So it goes.

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Pfizer’s future? Uncertain. But its cash flow and acquisitions? A gamble worth taking. So it goes.

Verizon Communications

Verizon’s 6.3% yield is steady. Its payout ratio? 63%. Free cash flow? $19.5 billion to $20.5 billion. A dividend of $11.4 billion? Easy. So it goes.

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Its growth? Modest. Its P/E? 10. A bargain? Maybe. But so is a sinking ship. So it goes.

Altria

Altria’s 6.5% yield is tempting. Its payout ratio? 79%. Free cash flow? $8.7 billion vs. $6.9 billion in dividends. So it goes.

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But its core? Tobacco. A business in decline. Diversification? A footnote. So it goes.

These stocks? Attractive. But dividends are not promises. So it goes. 🚨

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2025-10-03 12:23