Quick Read
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Enbridge's 7.95% yield rests on $2.95 billion in quarterly distributable cash flow, not GAAP earnings, which fell 38.75% on non-cash losses.
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Kimberly-Clark's 54-year dividend raise streak and 4.61% yield face a test from $4.9 billion in new debt tied to the Kenvue acquisition.
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British American Tobacco yields 5.56% while US Velo Plus revenue surged 310% and Velo Modern Oral grew 48%, pushing smokeless consumers to 34.1 million.
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Most blue chips pay small dividends. These four well-known companies pay a lot more, and each one comes from a different part of the market: pipelines with Enbridge( NYSE:ENB ), tobacco with British American Tobacco( NYSE:BTI ), banking with Truist Financial( NYSE:TFC ), and household staples with Kimberly-Clark( NASDAQ:KMB ). Enbridge leads the group with a 7.95% yield. A big yield only helps your income if the cash behind it holds up, so every section below starts with dividend safety.
Enbridge: Pipeline Cash Flow Funds the Biggest Payout in the Group
Enbridge yields 7.95% at $48.22, which makes it the only ultra-high-yield name here. Enbridge sets its dividend in Canadian dollars at C$0.97 per quarter, so the US dollar amount you receive moves with the exchange rate. The last two payments at that rate came to $0.707 and $0.696 per share.
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Is the Dividend Safe?
Measured by GAAP earnings, the payout looks extended: trailing EPS is $1.87 against $3.83 in dividends per share. GAAP numbers do a poor job of measuring a pipeline company, though. Second-quarter GAAP net income fell 38.75% because of non-cash derivative losses and an inventory adjustment, items that leave the cash behind the dividend untouched. A better measure is distributable cash flow (DCF), the cash left after maintenance spending. Enbridge produced $2.95 billion of DCF in the quarter and confirmed full-year DCF per share guidance of C$5.70 to C$6.10, which covers four quarterly payments of C$0.97. Operating cash flow rose 26.96% to $4.111 billion, and quarterly payments date back to 1999.
Why Income Investors Like It
Growth comes from a secured backlog of about C$41 billion, including C$9 billion approved so far this year. Management is aiming for roughly 5% annual growth in EBITDA, DCF and EPS after this year. Chief Executive Greg Ebel described the background as the "best macro environment for growth in the last 10 years". Ebel is retiring, and Michele Harradence takes over as CEO effective January 1, 2027. Contracted pipelines and mid-single-digit cash flow growth keep a payout this large funded.
One Risk to Track
Leverage is the weak spot. Debt-to-EBITDA stands at 5.1x, above the company's 4.5x to 5.0x target range. Enbridge recently closed a C$3.0 billion common equity offering. That shores up the company's finances, but it also adds new shares that the dividend has to cover.
British American Tobacco: Smokeless Growth Keeps a Rising Dividend Funded
British American Tobacco yields 5.56% at $59.93, a high-yield payout from a stock that has gained 21.85% over the past year. The dividend is set in British pence. US investors own American depositary receipts (ADRs), so their dollar payments shift with the pound. The fiscal 2025 dividend was 245.04p, paid in four installments of 61.26p, a 2.0% increase. For ADR holders, that comes to $0.834851 per quarter this year, up from $0.749068. Currency can work against you too: payments fell to $0.700605 in early 2023 from $0.740411 during most of 2022.
Is the Dividend Safe?
Coverage is solid. Trailing EPS of $3.90 compares with $2.45 in dividends per share. Operating cash flow was $6.342 billion last fiscal year (down 37%), capital spending was just $551 million, and the company ended the year with $3.827 billion in cash. Buybacks of £1.1 billion retired 30.46 million shares, meaning fewer shares to cover with dividends. The stock trades at 11 times forward earnings.
Why Income Investors Like It
Smokeless products are the second growth story. The New Categories business added 4.7 million consumers to reach 34.1 million, Velo Modern Oral grew 48% at constant currency, and US revenue from Velo Plus rose 310%. Cigarettes still produce the cash that pays the dividend, while smokeless products build the next source of earnings. A beta of 0.099 shows the shares have barely moved with the broader market.
One Risk to Track
Litigation never goes away. The Canadian settlement requires ongoing annual payments, and Dutch tax authorities have issued assessments totaling £1,082 million. Every dollar spent on legal and tax bills is a dollar that can't go to shareholders.
Truist Financial: A Bank Cleaning House While Defending Its Payout
Truist yields 4.29% at $48.79, a high-yield payout from a large bank trading at a price-to-book ratio of 1.008 and 10 times forward earnings.
Is the Dividend Safe?
Truist has paid $0.52 per quarter since August 11, 2022, and hasn't increased it since. Before that, it raised the payout from $0.405 to $0.45, then to $0.48. Trailing EPS of $3.92 covers the $2.08 annual dividend, and third-quarter adjusted EPS came in at $1.16. Reported results were messier.
A $1.4 billion pre-tax loss from shifting its securities portfolio left GAAP net income available to common shareholders at $684 million, compared with $632 million paid out in common dividends. The restructuring moved $8.6 billion out of lower-yielding securities and into investments paying about 5.6%. CET1, the main measure of a bank's capacity to absorb losses, stands at 10.7%.
Why Income Investors Like It
Truist is selling off non-core and riskier businesses. Selling its RAC auto loan book cut nonperforming loans by 28%. The pending LightStream sale should bring in $7.2 billion of net proceeds and about $850 million of CET1 capital. Wealth management income hit a record $407 million. CEO Mike Lyons, who took over in September, said: "A hallmark of the company going forward is going to be a high-quality balance sheet with a strong through-the-cycle capital position."
One Risk to Track
The capital buffer has become thinner. CET1 fell 20 basis points in the quarter, tangible book value per share dropped 4.5% to $31.90, and management cut fourth-quarter buybacks to about $1 billion. For now, your income here comes from the current rate, with no raise in four years.
Kimberly-Clark: A Dividend King Still Raising Its Payout
Kimberly-Clark yields 4.61% at $108.60. It has raised its dividend for 54 consecutive years, which makes it a Dividend King. The quarterly payment is now $1.28, up from $1.26 last year and $1.22 the year before.
Is the Dividend Safe?
On a GAAP basis, coverage is thin: $5.08 in dividends per share against trailing EPS of $5.07, partly because second-quarter GAAP net income fell 32.22%. Adjusted results look stronger. Second-quarter adjusted EPS of $2.12 beat consensus for the fifth straight quarter and was well above the $1.28 quarterly payout. First-quarter operating cash flow rose 127.83% to $745 million, while capital spending was $424 million.
Why Income Investors Like It
People keep buying Kleenex, Huggies, Scott, and Kotex in good times and bad. Adjusted gross margin rose 190 bps to 38.8%, and adjusted operating profit grew 6.2%. On the second-quarter call, Chief Executive Michael Hsu said: "These are very stable consumption categories where consumption doesn't change because of promotion." The stock trades at 15 times forward earnings and has a beta of 0.275.
One Risk to Track
The pending Kenvue( NYSE:KVUE ) acquisition raises the stakes. Kimberly-Clark priced $4.9 billion of senior notes tied to the deal. That new debt, plus integrating a large company, must be handled without stressing the 54-year raise streak.
Four Sectors, Four Cash Engines
Enbridge is the group's only ultra-high-yield name, and its payout rests on contracted pipeline cash flow and a C$41 billion backlog. British American Tobacco offers a high yield with strong earnings coverage. Kimberly-Clark brings a 54-year record of increases, and Truist pays a bank yield near book value while it rebuilds capital. Each dividend is backed by real cash generation, and that matters more for your income than the yield itself.
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