<div id="readability-page-1">Dividend stocks are a favorite among investors for good reason. They provide a steady stream of passive income and offer a promising avenue for total return. Total return, a comprehensive measure of investment performance, encompasses interest, capital gains, dividends, and distributions realized over time. For example, if you purchase a stock at $20 that pays a 3% dividend ($0.60 per share) and the price rises to $22 in a year, your total return is ($22 + $0.60 − $20) = 13%. This combines the price appreciation and the dividend received. One of the best ways to achieve a significant total return is to buy and hold quality companies for five years or longer and reinvest all dividends. <div id="keypoints"> <div> <ul> <li> Many top companies offer a dividend reinvestment program, wherein you can invest your quarterly dividend payment at no charge. </li> <li> Reinvesting dividends means you can buy more shares when the stock drops and less if it has traded higher. </li> <li> Even if you don’t reinvest dividends, they can also serve as a steady passive income stream to help with everyday costs. </li> <li> Are you ahead, or behind on retirement? SmartAsset’s free tool can match you with a financial advisor in minutes to help you answer that today. Each advisor has been carefully vetted, and must act in your best interests. Don’t waste another minute; learn more here.(Sponsor) </li> </ul> </div> </div> There are over 12,000 publicly traded stocks in the United States, depending on the methodology; not even the most intelligent investors with the best tools can find them all immediately. Many investors and traders typically maintain a small list of key stocks they follow when seeking capital gains or high-yield dividends. We decided to screen our 24/7 Wall St. high-yield database, looking for quality companies that pay at least a 5% dividend, have strong coverage for the dividend, are Buy-rated at top Wall Street firms, and are ideal candidates for a Buy-and-Hold portfolio. All five make sense for growth and income investors with some risk tolerance. <h2>Why do we cover dividend stocks?</h2> <img src="https://imageproxy.pbkrs.com/https://247wallst.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/imageforentry7-yrk.jpg?x-oss-process=image/auto-orient,1/interlace,1/resize,w_1440,h_1440/quality,q_95/format,jpg" width="1366" height="768" original-src="https://imageproxy.pbkrs.com/https://247wallst.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/imageforentry7-yrk.jpg"/> Dividend stocks offer investors a reliable source of passive income. Passive income is characterized by its ability to generate revenue without requiring the earner’s continuous active effort, making it a desirable financial strategy for those seeking to diversify their income streams or achieve financial independence. <h2>Ares Capital</h2> The company specializes in providing financing solutions for the middle market and is the largest high-yielding business development company (BDC) in America. Ares Capital Corp. (NASDAQ: ARCC) specializes in acquisition, recapitalization, mezzanine debt, restructurings, rescue financing, and leveraged buyout transactions of middle-market companies. It also makes growth capital and general refinancing. It prefers to invest in companies engaged in basic and growth manufacturing, business services, consumer products, healthcare products and services, and information technology sectors. The fund will also consider investments in industries such as restaurants, retail, oil and gas, and technology sectors. It focuses on investments in the Northeast, Mid-Atlantic, Southeast, and Southwest regions from its New York office, the Midwest region from the Chicago office, and the Western region from the Los Angeles office. The fund typically invests between $20 million and $200 million, with a maximum investment of $400 million, in companies with an EBITDA between $10 million and $250 million per year. It makes debt investments between $10 million and $100 million The fund invests through: <ul> <li>Revolvers</li> <li>First-lien loans</li> <li>Warrants</li> <li>Unitranche structures</li> <li>Second-lien loans</li> <li>Mezzanine debt</li> <li>Private high yield</li> <li>Junior Capital</li> <li>Subordinated debt</li> <li>Non-control preferred and common equity</li> </ul> The fund also selectively considers third-party-led senior and subordinated debt financings and opportunistically acquires stressed and discounted debt positions. Ares Capital prefers to be an agent and lead the transactions in which it invests. The fund also seeks board representation in its portfolio companies. Wells Fargo has an Overweight rating with a target price of $23. <h2>Bristol Myers Squibb</h2> Bristol Myers Squibb Co. (NYSE: BMY) is a global biopharmaceutical company committed to discovering, developing, and delivering innovative medicines. This top company remains a solid pharmaceutical stock to own in the long term, offering an outstanding entry point with a reliable dividend. Bristol Myers Squibb is committed to discovering, developing, and delivering transformative medicines for patients with serious diseases in areas such as oncology, hematology, immunology, cardiovascular disease, neuroscience, and other therapeutic areas. Its platforms comprise chemically synthesized or small-molecule drugs, including protein degraders, as well as biologics produced through biological processes. These platforms also encompass ADCs, CAR-T cell therapies, and radiopharmaceutical therapeutics. Small-molecule drugs are typically administered orally in the form of tablets or capsules, although other drug delivery mechanisms are also employed. Biologics are usually administered through injections or by intravenous infusion. CAR-T cell therapies are administered by intravenous infusion. Its growth portfolio includes: <ul> <li>Opdivo</li> <li>Opdivo Qvantig</li> <li>Orencia</li> <li>Yervoy</li> <li>Reblozyl</li> <li>Opdualag</li> </ul> Bristol Myers Squibb’s legacy portfolio includes: <ul> <li>Eliquis</li> <li>Revlimid</li> <li>Pomalyst/Imnovid</li> <li>Sprycel</li> <li>Abraxane</li> </ul> Jefferies has a Buy rating with a $68 target price. <h2>Brookfield Renewable Partners L.P.</h2> This off-the-radar utility stock is an ideal choice now for growth and income investors, as well as those concerned with environmental issues. Brookfield Renewable Partners L.P. (NYSE: BEP) operates publicly traded platforms for renewable power and decarbonization solutions. The company’s renewable power portfolio includes: <ul> <li>Hydroelectric</li> <li>Wind</li> <li>Utility-scale solar</li> <li>Distributed generation</li> </ul> Storage facilities are located across North America, South America, Europe, and the Asia-Pacific region. Its operations are divided into six segments: <ul> <li>Hydroelectric, which is further categorized by geography (North America, Colombia, and Brazil)</li> <li>Wind</li> <li>Utility-scale solar</li> <li>Distributed energy and storage, including distributed generation</li> <li>Pumped storage</li> <li>Battery energy storage systems; sustainable solutions, encompassing agricultural renewable natural gas, carbon capture and storage, recycling, cogeneration, biomass, nuclear services, electrofuels, and power transformation</li> <li>Corporate</li> </ul> The company’s total power portfolio comprises approximately 46,200 megawatts of installed capacity and a development pipeline of approximately 200,000 megawatts. CIBC has assigned an Outperform rating with a target price of $30. <h2>Enterprise Products Partners</h2> Enterprise Products Partners L.P. (NYSE: EPD) is an American midstream natural gas and crude oil pipeline company headquartered in Houston, Texas. This company is one of the largest publicly traded energy partnerships, paying a very reliable dividend. Enterprise Products Partners provides various midstream energy services, including: <ul> <li>Gathering</li> <li>Processing</li> <li>Transporting and storing natural gas, natural gas liquids (NGL), and fractionation</li> <li>Import and export terminalling</li> <li>Offshore production platform services</li> </ul> The company has four reportable business segments: <ul> <li>Natural Gas Pipelines and Services</li> <li>NGL Pipelines and Services</li> <li>Petrochemical Services</li> <li>Crude Oil Pipelines and Services</li> </ul> One reason many analysts like the stock might be its distribution coverage ratio. The company’s coverage ratio is well above 1x, making it relatively less risky among the MLPs. J.P. Morgan has an Overweight rating with a target price of $38. <h2>Realty Income</h2> Realty Income Corp. (NYSE: O) is a real estate investment trust that invests in free-standing, single-tenant commercial properties. This is an ideal stock for growth and income investors seeking a safer, contrarian investment for the remainder of 2025. Realty Income is an S&amp;P 500 company that provides stockholders with dependable monthly income. The company acquires and manages freestanding commercial properties that generate rental revenue under long-term net lease agreements with its commercial clients. It is engaged in a single business activity: leasing property to clients, generally on a net basis. This business activity spans various geographic boundaries and encompasses a range of property types and clients across multiple industries. The company owns or holds interests in approximately 15,621 properties in: <ul> <li>All 50 United States</li> <li>The United Kingdom</li> <li>France</li> <li>Germany</li> <li>Ireland</li> <li>Italy</li> <li>Portugal</li> <li>Spain</li> </ul> With clients doing business in 89 industries, its property types include: retail, industrial, gaming, and others, such as agriculture and office. Its primary industry concentrations include: <ul> <li>Grocery stores</li> <li>Convenience stores</li> <li>Dollar stores</li> <li>Drug stores</li> <li>Home improvement stores</li> <li>Restaurants</li> <li>Quick service</li> </ul> UBS has a Buy rating on the shares with a $66 price objective. Bank of America Has Buy Ratings on Four Ultra-High-Yield Dividend Giants The post 5 Stocks Yielding 5% and More to Buy and Hold for the Next 5 Years appeared first on 24/7 Wall St..</div>

ARCC

Five quality companies yielding at least 5% dividends are recommended for a buy-and-hold strategy over the next five years. These stocks are rated as 'Buy' by top Wall Street firms, making them ideal for growth and income investors. Dividend stocks provide passive income and total return through price appreciation and reinvested dividends. Ares Capital and Bristol Myers Squibb are among the highlighted companies, with Ares Capital focusing on financing middle-market companies and Bristol Myers Squibb specializing in innovative biopharmaceuticals.