Stocks are a winning proposition—but sometimes, you have to have a little patience.
You can invest in just about anything—shoes, artwork, properties, you name it—and years down the road, someone might want to buy that pair of Nikes or that Mattise for more than you paid. But the easiest case one can make is for investing in stocks, which are both ridiculously simple to buy and have generated spectacular returns over the long haul.
Just consider how stocks have performed across more than half a century compared to a few other popular investment assets: Stock investors who plunked a mere $1,000 in the S&P 500 back in 1974, and didn’t contribute another cent, would still be sitting on $361,099 as of the end of 2023 (and even more today). That compares to just $67,834 for corporate bonds, $56,424 for gold, $24,426 for 10-year Treasuries, and a mere $15,247 for real estate!
Yes, past performance has no bearing on future returns. But by their very nature, stocks have the potential for higher returns than many other assets, now and in the future—and the longer you hold, the more compounding can do the wealth-building work for you!
If you’re embarking on building your investment portfolio, you’ve come to the right place. In this article, we’ll delve into some of the most reliable long-term stocks that are ideal for holding over many years, possibly even decades. Alongside this, we’ll cover some fundamental principles of stock investing and address several frequently asked questions about the stock market.
Disclaimer: This article does not constitute individualized investment advice. These securities appear for your consideration and not as personalized investment recommendations. Act at your own discretion.
Editor’s Note: Tabular data presented in this article is up-to-date as of Dec. 19, 2024.
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Table of Contents
Why You Should Invest in the Stock Market
A stock is simply a piece of ownership in a company. It allows you to profit from a company’s success—most commonly, from price appreciation in shares of the stock, but in several cases, also from cash distributions (dividends) the company makes to shareholders. And the case for owning them is clear:
— Stocks have higher rates of returns than just about any other asset class.
— They can be held in numerous types of investment accounts.
— They’re easier to understand than many other types of investments.
If you’re asking us, funds—whether they’re mutual funds, exchange-traded funds (ETFs), or closed-end funds (CEFs)—are the simplest and easiest ways to invest in the stock market.
But individual stocks play an important role, too. The best long-term stocks offer investors a way to stay intellectually “invested”—by compelling people to stay up-to-date on companies they believe in. Plus, they provide investors with the potential to outperform those funds.
Bottom line: Whether you hold stock funds or individual equities, stocks (as an asset class) are among the best long-term investments you can make.
Growth Stocks or Value Stocks?
Growth stocks are generally considered to be companies that are expanding sales (and often profits) at a faster-than-average clip. Typically, growth companies have either an attractive product they are bringing to new markets or a steady drumbeat of new items they can sell to existing customers to open up new revenue streams.
Technology companies are typically the most common example of growth stocks, as they bring new gadgets to market that are better or faster than previous products.
Value stocks, on the other hand, are generally considered to be companies that trade for less than some sort of intrinsic value. They might not be expanding rapidly, but they often have a strong underlying business. Think of a local bank or a utility company that might have trouble doubling in size over the next few years, but doesn’t face a lot of competition or disruption to its business model. These companies are still capable of some growth—but Wall Street sometimes undervalues these firms, and their prices can improve once other investors catch on to their true value.
You can find the best long-term stocks hiding out in both camps. Reliable growth can result in significant gains over many years; alternatively, a rock-solid value stock will most commonly weather any market disruptions much better than a company that relies on enterprise spending trends or consumer confidence to drive its sales.
What About Dividend Stocks?
Dividend stocks (which commonly are value stocks, but can be growth stocks) are great ways to drive long-term performance of your portfolio. These companies pay a regular flow of their profits directly back to shareholders, meaning you receive some sort of return regardless of the ebb and flow of share prices.
Stocks that can both grow and pay dividends are the ultimate long-term stocks given just how much in additional returns they can generate over the long term.
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The above image is a look at the return someone could expect if they received just the price returns from an S&P 500 over the past 25 years.
But What If I Reinvested My Dividends?
Now look at the above chart to see how much better the return is when you factor in dividends had you had reinvested those dividends back into the S&P 500 (returns illustrated by an S&P 500-tracking ETF; note that expenses are included in performance).
The price return is a little less than 330%. The total return (price plus dividends) is more than 565%!
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The best long-term stocks tend to be companies that aren’t overly dependent on specific trends in the global economy, and companies that can deliver returns in any environment. Dividend growth stocks (companies that pay larger dividends over time) tend to check both those boxes, proving they have operations that generate significant profits, and are growing those profits enough to deliver larger paydays to shareholders each year.
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What’s a Diversified Portfolio?
The best long-term stocks are part of an investment strategy that prioritizes stability and risk management over risky short-term bets that might pay off—or leave you in tears.
There are plenty of investment strategies that, after the fact, look wise simply because they worked out. But your personal financial situation matters. Ask yourself this: Would you bet $10,000 on a 50/50 chance of either doubling that money or losing every penny instantly?
If your answer is “no,” then there are certain strategies you should never consider in your toolkit, and others you should stick with even if it means your returns are not as dramatic.
One low-risk strategy that many investors deploy is the notion of a diversified portfolio that spreads your risk around in multiple vehicles. The easiest way to do that is through mutual funds and ETFs, which hold dozens if not hundreds or even thousands of stocks, bonds, and other assets. And you can keep your costs down by purchasing index funds—mutual funds or ETFs managed not by humans, but effectively a rules-based algorithm.
However, you can also look beyond the typical offerings out there and build your own diversified portfolio by hand-picking a basket of long-term stocks.
If you want more control or customization in your portfolio, there’s nothing wrong with picking individual stocks—in fact, it often makes sense to put a few individual stocks alongside the mutual funds and/or ETFs in your portfolio.
Just make sure you’re doing your research to ensure you have the best stocks available, and that you are keeping an eye on diversification.
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Top Picks to Consider for Long-Term Holding
If you’re looking beyond mutual funds and ETFs to build your own portfolio of the best stocks to hold for a long, long time, it’s crucial to both understand your personal investing goals as well as to do your own homework before buying (and selling!) an individual company’s shares.
That includes looking at stocks for specific strengths, like their market share or their annual earnings trends compared with their peers, as well as how a given stock performs against the broader market at large.
There’s no one-size-fits-all approach to anything on Wall Street, so you should always look at the latest numbers and do your own personal analysis before making any trades. But to get you started, here is our updated list of standout companies that are among the best long-term stocks to buy based on share performance, earnings trends, staying power, and other factors.
Stocks are listed by dividend yield, from lowest to highest.
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1. DaVita
— Market cap: $12.0 billion
— Dividend yield: N/A
— Sector: Health care
Demographics both here at home and abroad are fueling a health care tailwind that will last for decades to come. Thus, one of the most durable long-term growth investments you can make is to bank on the continued expansion of the health care sector.
DaVita (DVA) illustrates that point perfectly.
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This company provides dialysis treatment for patients with chronic kidney conditions. Considering that there are half a million dialysis patients in the U.S. alone who need regular care, DVA has a big pool of patients that depend on its services.
DaVita also has the backing of Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.B), which first took a stake in the stock back in 2011 and has increased its position steadily to account for more than 43% ownership in the firm—that’s the largest percent ownership Buffett has in his equity portfolio! This should provide a strong foundation for shares, as institutional investors like the so-called “Oracle of Omaha” are far more likely to buy and hold than churn their shares based on short-term trends.
With a big tailwind for the underlying business and long-term investors that will provide a firm floor for shares, there are a lot of structural reasons to like DaVita.
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2. Amazon
— Market capitalization: $2.4 trillion
— Dividend yield: N/A
— Sector: Technology
Amazon (AMZN) dominates the retail world. It is a one-stop shop for nearly anything you could want. And it has redefined customer expectations—they were a pioneer in two-day, one-day and even same-day shipping.
And yet, it’s also so much more than that.
Amazon is also the world’s biggest cloud provider through AWS, it’s an entertainment company through its Amazon Prime service, and it’s one of the biggest advertising companies, behind only giants Google and Facebook. AMZN makes for such an attractive stock because it’s supported by a diversified business with ample opportunities to enter new markets and disrupt well-seated industry incumbents.
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That said, the optimism about future growth is mostly centered around AWS, cloud, and the potential growth AI could deliver. The company is investing deeply in both AI development and infrastructure—it has even created its own silicon, including the Graviton, Trainium, and Inferentia chips—and Wall Street largely believes these bets are going to continue paying off.
“AWS appears to be leveraging its leading market share in cloud to become a major player in the AI space, via internal architectures such as Amazon Bedrock, foundation models such as AWS Trainium and AWS Interfentia, and partnerships with Anthropic, Meta, and others. Amazon plans to invest up to $4 billion in Anthropic, a leading provider of AI foundation models and an advocate for the responsible deployment of generative AI. The Anthropic partnership meaningfully strengthens AWS at a key time in the AI gold rush.”
Amazon is a rarity among long-term stocks to buy and hold forever in that it doesn’t pay a dividend—not a penny. For now, much of the company’s spectacular cash flow is being reinvested in ways to either improve what it has or grow into still further business lines. What isn’t spent is being stashed away in AMZN’s nearly $90 billion rainy-day fund—at the very least, the ultimate financial security blanket for Amazon, but also dry powder for further investments, transformative M&A, or at some point, shareholder rewards.
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3. Alphabet
— Market value: $2.3 trillion
— Dividend yield: 0.4%
— Sector: Communication services
A very different example of a long-term stock to buy and hold is Google and YouTube parent Alphabet (GOOGL). One of just a handful of trillion-dollar tech stocks, and a member of the Magnificent Seven, Alphabet is a digital advertising powerhouse that not only provides the go-to search engine for most Americans, but also the infrastructure to serve display ads across all manner of content.
Part of that infrastructure is in potential danger. The U.S. Department of Justice has said that it wants to break up Google on antitrust concerns—specifically, it wants the firm to spin off its Chrome web browser, and ensure Android won’t favor its own search engine. And even then, Wall Street remains wildly bullish on this communication services mainstay.
“Even if Google’s power is diminished and it’s not able to be the default search engine on devices owned by big tech giants, its sheer might of reputation in the world of search is likely to propel users towards it, nonetheless,” says Susannah Streeter, head of money and markets at the U.K.’s Hargreaves Lansdown.
Alphabet’s revenues have grown every year for a quarter-century, but the company isn’t resting on its laurels. Google is integrating its AI-powered assistant, Gemini, into its core services, including its ubiquitous search engine—and importantly, it’s figuring out how to reduce costs of running queries. Meanwhile, its Google Cloud services continue to expand at a rapid clip.
Alphabet even initiated a dividend in 2024. Yes, it’s a 20-cent payout that translates into a sub-1% yield. But Alphabet is a cash-generation machine, which bodes well for future payout growth … and every dividend has to start somewhere.
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4. Costco Wholesale
— Market cap: $428.3 billion
— Dividend yield: 0.5%
— Sector: Consumer staples
Generally speaking, retailers are hard to rely on as buy-and-hold investments because they tend to be subject to broader spending trends and changing consumer tastes. It’s also worth noting that brick-and-mortar retailers are anything but a sure thing in this age of e-commerce.
However, warehouse retailer Costco Wholesale (COST) is still worth a look as a long-term holding, since its unique model sidesteps most of these concerns. For starters, the chain operates roughly 890 warehouses worldwide, with about two-thirds here in the U.S.
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It appeals to bargain shoppers and the staples it sells typically have low margins, but it also has a regular membership fee that generates a ton of baseline cash every year. Costco boasts nearly 130 million cardholders in the U.S. alone—and at $60 per household and business memberships even pricier, that creates a tremendous foundation for this retailer.
What’s more, the company’s customers are true believers in its value-conscious offerings, and there’s a veritable cult of followers behind Costco’s Kirkland store brand. And if times get tough, even more customers might end up walking through the warehouse looking to save on their groceries and household goods as they pass over Costco’s competitors.
A low-cost approach might not set the world on fire, but providing affordable offerings to loyal customers is a pretty consistent business model.
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5. Constellation Energy
— Market cap: $71.5 billion
— Dividend yield: 0.6%
— Sector: Utilities
When it comes to the best long-term stocks, the utility sector stands out as a natural place to look.
For starters, utility companies always have “wide moats,” which is a way of saying they have significant, established advantages that make it difficult to compete. Utilities are exceedingly capital-intensive businesses that are highly regulated, and thus competition is very difficult to come by—in fact, in many cases, U.S. utilities are de facto regional monopolies. Furthermore, electricity is a necessity for businesses and consumers that sees strong baseline demand even in a rough economic environment. That creates a measure of certainty for the sector, regardless of broader uncertainty or economic cycles.
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If you’re looking for long-term investments, then, utilities are a natural choice. And in this sector, Constellation Energy (CEG) stands out as one of the larger and better-performing options in the sector.
Constellation is among the largest utility stocks on Wall Street. Based out of Baltimore, it sells natural gas and electricity service, with about 32,400 megawatts of generating capacity—enough to power 16 million homes and businesses. It also produces a variety of carbon-free energy, including wind, solar, hydroelectric, and nuclear.
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While one doesn’t typically associate utilities with growth, CEG has quintupled since being spun off from Exelon (EXC) at the beginning of 2022. Its latest potential source of growth is … the tech sector. In 2024, Constellation signed a 20-year power purchase agreement with Microsoft (MSFT) that will involve the restart of Three Mile Island Unit 1, as well as the launch of the Crane Clean Energy Center.
At whatever point the dust settles and CEG isn’t quite as “growthy,” you can expect the company to be able to foot a healthy dividend. The current yield isn’t nearly so generous as other utility stocks out there, but distributions are already 150% higher than they were post-spinoff.
6. Moody’s
— Market cap: $84.3 billion
— Dividend yield: 0.7%
— Sector: Financial services
Moody’s (MCO) is a global risk management firm that is best known for providing credit ratings. That includes credit scores for individual consumers as well as “official” rankings for major corporations and governments—including the United States, via its rating on U.S. Treasury debts. Additionally, the company also offers investor services that includes research and data to arm investors with information to make the best decisions.
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In early 2024, Moody’s announced a 10% increase to its payout, to 85¢ per share. Consider that in 2014, it paid just 28¢ per share—meaning over the last decade, MCO has increased its payouts more than three-fold. That’s part of a broader long-term trend of growth and success, too, with revenue that has surged from $4.8 billion in fiscal 2019 to a projected $7.5 billion for fiscal 2025—an upgrade from earlier estimates for about $7.1 billion.
The structure of the current financial system all but guarantees that consumers and businesses will need to go through Moody’s to get their seal of approval for loans. And given the history of revenue expansion and dividend growth in recent years, there’s good reason to bank on Moody’s delivering in the year’s ahead.
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7. Microsoft
— Market cap: $3.3 trillion
— Dividend yield: 0.7%
— Sector: Information technology
When it comes to a stock with scale and staying power, tech giant Microsoft (MSFT) is another tech giant that immediately springs to mind. The technology firm is synonymous with workplace productivity, with its Windows and Office 365 software products—now bolstered by Microsoft’s Copilot AI chatbot—the gold standard for businesses around the world.
Microsoft isn’t without growth plans despite its already impressive scale, however. Its Azure cloud computing business continues to expand at a rapid clip, its remote workplace tools like Teams have now become hardwired into enterprise operations in the wake of the pandemic, its artificial intelligence run rate is on track to surpass $10 billion in 2025, and its Xbox video game arm is a juggernaut in its own right after closing a $69 billion acquisition of software giant Activision Blizzard in 2023.
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With long-term investing, it’s all about trying to find certainty in an uncertain world. And the dominance of Microsoft seems incredibly likely regardless of geopolitics, economic cycles, or anything else.
Microsoft is one of the 25 largest corporations in the world as measured by revenue, and it’s the largest in market capitalization right now. And despite being a still-“growthy” tech company, it also offers a modest but rising dividend.
If you want stability and scale in a long-term stock investment, Microsoft is it.
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8. Eli Lilly
— Market cap: $696.4 billion
— Dividend yield: 0.8%
— Sector: Health care
If you’re building a wish list of long-term stocks to buy and hold, Eli Lilly (LLY) certainly belongs—if not to buy the stock itself, then at least as an illustration of what you should be looking for.
Namely, pharmaceuticals are a mainstay—hundreds of millions of people worldwide rely on pharma firms’ treatments, and countless portfolios lean on these stocks as a source of both growth and income.
Eli Lilly was founded nearly 150 years ago in Indianapolis, by Col. Eli Lilly—a Union Army veteran! It gained fame for introducing the world’s first commercial insulin roughly a century ago, and while its product lineup has certainly broadened since then, it remains a leader in diabetic treatment.
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Lilly’s lineup includes cancer treatments Verzenio and Erbitux, as well as autoimmune injectable Taltz and migraine prevention drug Emgality. And its diabetes lineup includes well-known drugs such as Trulicity, Jardiance, and Humalog. But leading the way forward are two products—Mounjaro and Zepbound—that belong to a rising class of drugs: glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) receptor agonists, which help manage blood sugar levels in people with Type 2 diabetes. And while that’s certainly reason enough for the drug to exist, it also serves another purpose: being an extremely effective way for patients to battle obesity. Already, these two drugs have become “blockbusters” (drugs that generate more than $1 billion in revenue in a year), and Wall Street analysts only expect demand for these and similar products to rise going forward.
A sub-1% yield might not indicate that Lilly is income-friendly, but that’s largely an effect of LLY’s share price rising so fast. In fact, management has been pouring increasingly large gobs of its newfound cash into the dividend for years. Most recently, LLY announced a 15% dividend increase, to $1.50 per share, to take effect starting with the March 2025 payout. Not only is that the company’s 11th consecutive dividend hike, but it’s the seventh straight raise of 15%! (And LLY has paid a dividend since 1972.)
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Better still? That dividend represents only about a quarter of 2025’s expected earnings—an extremely healthy ratio that signals more potential for dividend increases going forward.
While Lilly has long been a productive pharmaceutical stock, it has been launched into a new tier. It is now the biggest pharmaceutical company on U.S. exchanges, and increasingly appears worthy of being called a long-term buy-and-hold stock. If nothing else, it’s a representative example of the kinds of companies investors should consider when their holding time is measured in years, and not just a few months.
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9. Linde plc
— Market cap: $201.7 billion
— Dividend yield: 1.3%
— Sector: Materials
Generally speaking, materials stocks don’t make the cut for most lists of long-term investments. Like energy stocks, they are cyclical investments that tend to rise and fall based on broad-based economic trends and industrial demand.
That said, with a little bit of research and a lot of patience, investors can still find good companies in this space that look like they can withstand the test of time.
Case in point: Ireland-based Linde plc (LIN).
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Linde is the world’s largest industrial gas producer, offering oxygen, nitrogen, argon, helium, hydrogen, electronic gases, acetylene, and rare gases. It also produces air separation, synthesis, olefin, and other plants for third-party customers. And it does this across every continent.
While this is certainly a cyclical business, Linde offers some shelter from the economic shocks that many of its businessmates suffer. That’s in part because of its diverse offerings, but also because of the industries it supplies, which includes defensive industries such as health care and food/beverage.
In fact, its business has been so relatively stable that it has—by virtue of its 2018 merger with fellow gas giant Praxair—been able to deliver 31 consecutive years of increased dividends to its shareholders. So while long-term buy-and-holders might look away from the materials sector, Linde sticks out as a surprisingly stable “forever stock.”
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10. FedEx
— Market cap: $67.7 billion
— Dividend yield: 2.0%
— Sector: Industrials
Cyclical businesses—companies that are heavily tied to the ups and downs of economic activity—are more difficult stocks to hold for the long term because of the inevitable swings.
FedEx (FDX) fits this mold, having seen its shares slump several times in the past quarter-century … and yet has still been a model of buy-and-hold-worthiness, outperforming the S&P 500 on a total-return basis by nearly 200 percentage points between 2000 and late 2024.
Yes, FedEx’s logistics business is cyclical, as package volume tends to rise and fall based on broader spending trends. But there’s a long-term megatrend lifting this stock that cannot be overlooked. And if you look around the front porches in your neighborhood, you’ll probably find proof of this trend yourself via all the boxes lying around.
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In the age of Amazon.com (AMZN) and e-commerce, FedEx is about as safe a bet as you can make. Yes, it’s not quite as large as competitor United Parcel Service (UPS), but it’s still a massive and valuable part of the global supply chain.
FedEx has paid dividends since 2002, but over the past few years, it has really stepped up its efforts to share the wealth with stockholders. Its cash distribution has more than doubled since 2021, which includes a nearly 10% dividend increase announced in mid-2024. Meanwhile, that dividend only represents less than a quarter of 2025’s projected earnings, making the payout not just sustainable—but plenty expandable. FDX also expects to buy back some $2.5 billion of its own stock between 2024 and 2025.
Just more reasons why FDX is among the best long-term stocks to buy now.
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11. BlackRock
— Market cap: $158.2 billion
— Dividend yield: 2.1%
— Sector: Financials
BlackRock (BLK) is one of the world’s largest asset management firms, boasting about $10 trillion in assets across its many lines of business. Individual investors know it well for both its BlackRock mutual funds and closed-end funds (CEFs), as well as its iShares exchange-traded funds (ETFs). But it also manages money for institutional clients, including pension plans, foundations, charities, and insurance companies, among others.
With the exception of a few understandable hiccups (COVID, for instance), BlackRock has been in a broader consistent uptrend since the depths of the Great Recession. That has come alongside similar progression in both the company’s top and bottom lines.
It’s difficult to find any Wall Street pros with something negative to say about BLK. Shares currently enjoy 14 Buy calls versus four Holds and no Sells, and the analysts’ consensus for long-term earnings growth sits near 14% annually.
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“We believe that BLK remains well positioned to deliver above-peer organic growth given its unmatched product breadth and distribution footprint (helped by its iShares franchise),” say Keefe, Bruyette & Woods analysts Aidan Hall and Kyle Voigt, who rate BLK at Outperform. “Also, its scale and demonstrated ability to generate operating leverage bodes well for future earnings growth and operating leverage.”
BlackRock has been a fount of dividend growth since the Great Recession, too. In the past decade alone, BLK has managed to average 10% annual dividend growth, though that pace has been slowing in recent years—its most recent hike, announced in January 2024, was a mere 2% bump to $5.10 per share. Still, a payout ratio a hair above 50% should keep investors plenty confident in the dividend’s health and its ability to keep growing.
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12. Lockheed Martin
— Market cap: $114.5 billion
— Dividend yield: 2.7%
— Sector: Industrials
For better or for worse, defense giant Lockheed Martin (LMT) seems like one of those companies that will always have a sound financial foundation thanks to its focus on military matters and close relations with the U.S. Department of Defense.
Lockheed and its iconic “Skunk Works” developed many of the Cold War-era jets and missile systems that have become synonymous with modern military might. And more recently, conflicts like those in Ukraine and Gaza have sparked an increase in spending on its drone and missile defense operations.
The for-profit nature of our military industrial complex might not sit well with some investors. But presuming you have no moral qualms about the kind of business LMT is in, this is definitely a long-term investment to consider because its business isn’t driven by consumer spending or even enterprise spending the way tech companies or apparel companies are. Instead, it’s driven by long-term contracts—and the long-term need for security amid geopolitical unrest.
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13. Bunge Global
— Market cap: $10.9 billion
— Dividend yield: 3.4%
— Sector: Consumer staples
Bunge Global (BG) is a leading agribusiness and food company, operating across the entire agricultural supply chain through its many subsidiaries. All told, its operations span roughly 23,000 employees across more than 300 facilities in over 40 countries.
Among other things, the U.S.-headquartered but Switzerland-incorporated firm is a leading global oilseed processor and producer of vegetable oils and protein meals. It sources, processes, and distributes grains such as soybeans, wheat, and corn. And it produces agricultural products such as fertilizers and sugars.
Bunge is very much a “patience stock” right now. The company continues to suffer from lower margins on crush (the process that produces soybean oil and protein meal). Moreover, its proposed mega-acquisition of Canadian grain handling business Viterra ran into a potential wall, with Canada’s Competition Bureau voicing concerns over the deal; the merger could be delayed into 2025.
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Wall Street’s pros appear patient, though. Coverage isn’t exactly thick at 10 analysts currently, but of those, seven call BG shares a Buy, while three call it a Hold—no Sells are on the table. BMO Capital Markets analyst Andrew Strelzik recently lowered his price target on BG shares and acknowledged near-term challenges, but he maintained his Outperform rating and said “shares are trading at a compelling entry point.”
“Viterra synergies and buybacks create a path to an improving setup as 2025 progresses, and BG’s through-cycle earnings potential remains well in excess of our 2025 outlook,” he added.
Bunge can pay investors at least a modest sum for their patience. The 3%-plus yield is more than a point better than the market average. And the dividend has grown by a total of 36% over the past four years. It’s as safe as you could want it, too, with Bunge maintaining a conservative payout ratio of 33%.
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14. Prologis
— Market cap: $94.7 billion
— Dividend yield: 3.7%
— Sector: Real estate
Real estate is often seen as a store of value for many long-term investors, and for good reason. In the words of Mark Twain, “Buy land, they’re not making it anymore.”
That simple truth makes Prologis (PLD) a great long-term stock to consider because of its portfolio of specialized properties in key markets around the world.
This real estate investment trust (REIT) is a global leader in logistics real estate with a focus on high-barrier, high-growth markets. Indeed, PLD and its warehouses are a key part of the world’s supply chain. Prologis owns and/or operates 1.2 billion square feet across 19 different countries. Top clients include Amazon and FedEx, making these properties must-have hubs for distribution, but they’re just part of a diverse base of more than 6,700 customers largely in business-to-business distribution and retail fulfillment.
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With projected revenue growth in the high double digits for both 2024 and 2025, PLD is ramping up operations to become even more dominant in the years ahead. Dividends are now about three times what they were a decade ago, and the company for years has increased its payout during the first quarter, so now’s a great time to buy into Prologis in anticipation of even higher dividends in 2025.
It’s hard to imagine any upstart firm acquiring enough property quickly enough to compete with Prologis in the years ahead. And while spending trends wax and wane, the long-term nature of PLD leases with first-class corporations means its finances (and its dividend) are very secure for the foreseeable future.
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15. Plains All American Pipeline, LP
— Market cap: $11.8 billion
— Distribution yield: 7.5%*
— Sector: Energy
It’s no easy task to identify energy stocks with staying power in this age of climate change. However, one of the most stable stocks in the space is “midstream” energy company Plains All American Pipeline, LP (PAA).
Although it’s one of the smaller stocks on this list, and much smaller than multinational Big Oil leaders, it’s important to point out that PAA isn’t an explorer drilling for crude. Instead, it’s an energy infrastructure company—one that’s operated as a partnership—that is focused on the capital-intensive nature of building pipelines, terminals, and storage facilities. This business model makes the company less volatile than energy exploration-and-production firms, or the various other energy stocks that are sensitive to market prices for petroleum products.
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Plains All American Pipeline has been running terminaling, storage, and transportation infrastructure since its founding in 1981. It’s not a glamorous business, but it provides consistency that has helped to fuel a current distribution yield that’s well more than four times the S&P 500 right now. That distribution is growing, too; the company kicked off 2024 by announcing a roughly 19% increase in its payout.
If you want to make a swing trade on oil prices, PAA is not for you. But if you’re looking to invest in a low-risk, income-oriented fashion across 2025 and well beyond, this energy infrastructure player might have a place in your portfolio.
* Distribution yield is calculated by annualizing the most recent distribution and dividing by share price. Distributions are like dividends, but they are treated as tax-deferred returns of capital and require different tax paperwork.
Related: 11 Best Alternative Investments [Options to Consider]
Do All Companies Pay Dividends?
Not all companies pay dividends. Some companies choose not to, while other companies cannot afford to.
Related: The 9 Best Dividend Stocks for Beginners
As you can tell by this list, the best dividend stocks are normally slow-and-steady companies that have consistent operations. While it might be possible for a small software company or biotech firm to double its share price overnight, these companies rarely pay dividends because they don’t have much in the way of profits—and what they do have, they want to spend on other things, like research and development to continue growing.
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How Often Do Companies Pay Dividends?
The cycle of paying dividends is always different depending on the company. While it’s generally true that most U.S. corporations opt to pay their shareholders a dividend once per quarter, the dates aren’t fixed.
Related: 5 Best Vanguard Dividend Funds [Low-Cost Income]
Specifically, one company might pay you on a January-April-July-October payment cycle while another opts for February-May-August-November.
Complicating things further, some companies pay dividends twice a year, some pay once a year, and some even pay “special” unscheduled dividends.
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Are Stocks Affected by Interest Rates?
Yes! In multiple ways!
For one, as interest rates rise, the amount of interest paid on newly issued bonds tends to rise. When that happens, bonds (which are fairly stable, reliable investments) start looking more attractive compared to stocks (which have more potential but are riskier investments).
For instance, an investor who owns a bunch of 3% yielding dividend stocks might not look twice at a Treasury bond yielding 1%. But if that same bond started yielding, say, 5%, that’s a much more attractive proposition—even if that bond doesn’t have the same growth potential.
Related: 7 Best Fidelity ETFs for 2025 [Invest Tactically]
Also, rising interest rates make it more expensive for companies to fund their growth. Many companies will issue bonds to bring in much-needed dollars to pay for things like new equipment, research, and personnel. The goal: Make enough in profits from that growth that you come out ahead even after not just paying back the loans, but all that interest. But the greater the interest rate a company has to pay on its bond, the more difficult it is to come out ahead.
That’s why you’ll see, when the Federal Reserve raises its benchmark federal funds rate, stocks of corporations that borrow a lot to grow tend to take it on the chin.
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What If I Need Help Picking Stocks? Consider Motley Fool Stock Advisor
Several stock picking services can help you build a portfolio, typically for an annual subscription cost. One of our favorites is Motley Fool Stock Advisor.
Motley Fool Stock Advisor is a stock picking service that focuses on stable companies with proven track records. Some of their previous picks include Zoom, Netflix, and HubSpot, all of which have gone up significantly since receiving a nod from the service.
Members have access to the service’s history of recommendations to see precisely how each of their suggestions has panned out.
The service targets stocks across a variety of industries, such as energy, industrials, transportation, financial services, technology, and healthcare.
Read more in our Motley Fool Stock Advisor review.
Related: 6 Best Stock Recommendation Services [Stock Picking + Tips]
Stock recommendation services are popular shortcuts that help millions of investors make educated decisions without having to spend hours of time doing research. But just like, say, a driving shortcut, the quality of stock recommendations can vary widely—and who you’re willing to listen to largely boils down to track record and trust.
The natural question, then, is “Which services are worth a shot?” We explore some of the best (and best-known) stock recommendation services.
Related: 7 Best High-Quality, High-Yield Dividend Stocks to Buy
Looking to earn some serious dividend income? These high-quality, high-yield dividend stocks are well-regarded not only for their high payouts, but for the sustainability of those dividends (at least in the eyes of investment professionals covering the stocks).
We look into these seven companies’ dividend profiles and why analysts think their stocks are well worth holding in your income portfolio.
Related: The Best Fidelity ETFs for 2025 [Invest Tactically]
If you’re looking to build a diversified, low-cost portfolio of funds, Fidelity’s got a great lineup of ETFs that you need to see.
In addition to the greatest hits offered by most fund providers (e.g., S&P 500 index fund, total market index funds, and the like), they also offer specific funds that cover very niche investment ideas you might want to explore.
Related: 9 Best Monthly Dividend Stocks for Frequent, Regular Income
The vast majority of American dividend stocks pay regular, reliable payouts—and they do so at a more frequent clip (quarterly) than dividend stocks in most other countries (typically every six months or year).
Still, if you’ve ever thought to yourself, “it’d sure be nice to collect these dividends more often,” you don’t have to look far. While they’re not terribly common, American exchanges boast dozens of monthly dividend stocks.
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