Passive income is essential in retirement, but building a dependable stream isn't easy. Fortunately, top-tier dividend stocks can do the heavy lifting. The key is focusing on companies with strong yields, reliable payouts, and recession-resistant business models.

In today's volatile market, where uncertainty is the only constant, dividend investing has regained its shine. High-quality stocks that return capital to shareholders offer income stability and a cushion against downside risk.

Where to invest $1,000 right now? Our analyst team just revealed what they believe are the 10 best stocks to buy right now. Continue »

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The healthcare sector stands out in this environment. Its essential nature and steady demand make it a natural haven and a fertile ground for income investors.

Two healthcare heavyweights screen as particularly attractive buys in this turbulent market. With generous yields, durable business models, and products the world can't live without, these stocks deliver a potent mix of income and long-term upside. Here's why they belong on your radar right now.

Pfizer: Pharmaceutical giant with an exceptional yield

Pfizer (NYSE: PFE) shares currently offer an eye-catching 7.8% dividend yield, putting this pharmaceutical titan among the highest-yielding stocks in the healthcare sector. This exceptional payout level reflects the market's concerns about the company's growth trajectory following the pandemic revenue boom. With shares trading at just 7.5 times forward earnings, investors are essentially being paid handsomely to wait for the company's next phase of growth.

While Pfizer's payout ratio stands at an elevated 119%, high payout ratios are commonplace in the pharmaceutical industry due to its inherently cyclical nature. Moreover, the company maintains one of the strongest balance sheets in the industry following its COVID windfall, providing ample financial flexibility to sustain its dividend while investing in future growth. Pfizer's diverse portfolio of patent-protected drugs also generates enormous cash flows that support shareholder rewards and ongoing research initiatives.

What's the core value proposition? The drugmaker faces potential policy tailwinds under the new administration, which has signaled interest in correcting the "pill penalty" that currently gives small-molecule drugs just nine years of protection from Medicare negotiation versus 13 years for biologics. Such a change could enhance the economics of Pfizer's substantial small-molecule research programs.

Additionally, Pfizer's decision to divest its off-patent division has resulted in a more focused, innovative organization better positioned for long-term growth. So, with a promising pipeline of new drugs in cancer and immunology, Pfizer offers income investors not just an exceptional current yield but also the potential for meaningful capital appreciation as new blockbuster treatments leave the lab and enter commercial production.

AbbVie: Diversified pharmaceutical giant with steady income

AbbVie (NYSE: ABBV) offers investors a 3.9% dividend yield right now, with shares trading at a forward price-to-earnings ratio of just 14. For context, the benchmark S&P 500 trades at around 19 times forward earnings estimates. The drugmaker has successfully built a diversified portfolio spanning immunology, oncology, and aesthetics that generates consistent cash flow to support shareholder returns.

Humira's loss of exclusivity has created headwinds as biosimilar competition erodes market share. However, AbbVie's newer immunology treatments, Skyrizi and Rinvoq, have demonstrated stronger clinical outcomes for psoriasis, rheumatoid arthritis, and Crohn's disease than conventional therapies. The market has responded favorably to these medications, helping to counterbalance Humira's declining sales.

Beyond immunology, AbbVie maintains strong positions in aesthetics with Botox and oncology with Imbruvica, providing revenue diversification that strengthens the company's overall financial stability. This multifaceted portfolio approach reduces dependence on any single product while creating multiple avenues for future growth.

Despite an elevated payout ratio of 259%, AbbVie's dividend remains well supported by consistent cash-flow generation from its broad product lineup. For income investors seeking healthcare exposure with reliable dividends, AbbVie offers a generous yield with the potential for moderate capital appreciation, as it fortifies its core immunology franchise and expands into other lucrative market segments.

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George Budwell has positions in AbbVie and Pfizer. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends AbbVie and Pfizer. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

Market turmoil has sent tech stocks into a tailspin in early 2025. As Donald Trump's trade policies rattle global markets, even the most dominant technology companies haven't been spared. The S&P 500 has shed over 11% year to date as I write this, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq-100 has plummeted more than 16%. For opportunistic investors, however, this pullback presents a compelling chance to acquire shares of world-class businesses at bargain prices.

Rather than fleeing technology during this downturn, forward-thinking investors should consider building positions in companies poised to benefit from unstoppable trends like artificial intelligence (AI). Despite near-term headwinds, these foundational technologies continue transforming industries worldwide. Two tech giants, Nvidia (NASDAQ: NVDA) and Meta Platforms (NASDAQ: META), have been particularly hard hit and now offer exceptional value for long-term shareholders willing to weather the current volatility.

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Nvidia: The AI hardware leader at a steep discount

Nvidia shares have plummeted 34% from their 52-week high amid escalating U.S.-China tensions and new export restrictions. This dramatic sell-off has compressed Nvidia's valuation to just 21.8 times earnings estimates, far lower than the multiple it commanded at recent peaks. Last week's announcement that the company expects $5.5 billion in write-offs related to its China-specific H20 chip only accelerated the decline, yet the fundamental growth story remains intact for markets outside China.

What separates Nvidia from competitors is its formidable economic moat, built on both market-leading graphics processing unit (GPU) hardware and its proprietary Compute Unified Device Architecture (CUDA) software platform. This potent combination creates significant switching costs for AI developers, allowing Nvidia to maintain its dominance even as other tech giants such as Advanced Micro Devices work to develop alternatives. Though some analysts expect China-related revenue to rapidly approach zero, ongoing AI investments by businesses worldwide should support strong GPU sales throughout 2025.

The AI revolution remains in its earliest stages, with Nvidia positioned as the primary beneficiary of this exponential growth market. The company has expanded beyond its core GPU business into networking, software, and services, significantly enlarging its addressable market. With shares trading at their lowest valuation in years, investors have a rare opportunity to acquire this AI juggernaut at prices that substantially undervalue its long-term potential in the face of continued global AI adoption and despite current geopolitical uncertainties.

Meta Platforms: Social media giant with AI upside

Meta shares have tumbled 33% from their 52-week highs amid the broader market sell-off as I write this, creating an attractive entry point for investors in this social media powerhouse. Its stock now trades at just 19 times forward earnings estimates, down from 24 a year ago. With nearly 4 billion monthly active users across its applications, including Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, and Messenger, Meta maintains unrivaled scale in the social media space, benefiting from the secular shift toward digital advertising.

Moreover, the social media titan recently unveiled Llama 4, its next-generation large language model capable of understanding and generating content across various formats, including text, images, and video. This multimodal AI system puts Meta roughly at par with the latest models from Anthropic, Alphabet, and OpenAI, but Meta's true advantage lies in its unmatched distribution network.

As AI competition shifts from model development to distribution and monetization, Meta's massive user base provides a natural platform to deploy these technologies at scale, potentially driving higher engagement and advertising effectiveness.

While tariff-induced economic slowdowns could temporarily depress advertising spending, Meta might benefit from the current uncertainty surrounding TikTok's U.S. operations as advertisers seek alternative platforms. The company's dual strategy focuses on user engagement improvements through features like Stories and Reels, while enhancing its ad targeting algorithms to deliver better results for advertisers.

Though Meta faces potential regulatory challenges with a monopoly case in the U.S., and its Reality Labs division continues to consume billions in capital, these risks appear more than accounted for at current price levels. For investors seeking exposure to both digital advertising and AI, Meta offers a compelling combination of current profitability and growth potential.

Should you invest $1,000 in Nvidia right now?

Before you buy stock in Nvidia, consider this:

The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the 10 best stocks for investors to buy now… and Nvidia wasn’t one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years.

Consider when Netflix made this list on December 17, 2004... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $532,771!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $593,970!*

Now, it’s worth noting Stock Advisor’s total average return is 781% — a market-crushing outperformance compared to 149% for the S&P 500. Don’t miss out on the latest top 10 list, available when you join Stock Advisor.

See the 10 stocks »

*Stock Advisor returns as of April 21, 2025

Suzanne Frey, an executive at Alphabet, is a member of The Motley Fool's board of directors. Randi Zuckerberg, a former director of market development and spokeswoman for Facebook and sister to Meta Platforms CEO Mark Zuckerberg, is a member of The Motley Fool's board of directors. George Budwell has positions in Nvidia. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Advanced Micro Devices, Alphabet, Meta Platforms, and Nvidia. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

In an era of economic uncertainty and market volatility, the quest for reliable income has become increasingly important for investors. While growth stocks may capture headlines, dividend-paying companies form the backbone of many successful retirement portfolios. The appeal is straightforward: regular cash payments that arrive regardless of market conditions, providing a dependable income stream when it's needed most.

High-yield dividend stocks are particularly attractive in the current environment. With inflation gradually cooling but still a concern, and interest rates potentially trending lower in the coming years, companies that consistently distribute significant portions of their earnings to shareholders offer both immediate income and a hedge against future economic challenges.

Where to invest $1,000 right now? Our analyst team just revealed what they believe are the 10 best stocks to buy right now. Learn More »

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For income-focused investors, two energy companies stand out for their combination of substantial yields, reasonable payout sustainability, and established business models. Enterprise Products Partners (NYSE: EPD) and Duke Energy (NYSE: DUK) share a commitment to rewarding shareholders through consistent, above-average dividend payments. Here's a rundown of each company's core investing thesis and key dividend metrics.

Energy infrastructure with a generous payout

Enterprise Products Partners L.P. is a leading North American midstream energy provider, operating approximately 50,000 miles of pipelines alongside extensive storage and processing facilities. The company's business model generates steady, fee-based income from long-term contracts with minimum volume commitments, largely insulating it from commodity price swings.

With a substantial 6.9% distribution yield and over a quarter-century of consecutive annual increases to its payout, Enterprise Products Partners offers both substantial current income and a healthy amount of growth potential for income investors, driven primarily by its expanding capital investment program and strategic positioning in natural gas liquids export markets.

Equally as important, the company's fairly conservative 58.1% payout ratio and strong balance sheet (3.1x leverage ratio) imply that its distributions ought to be safe, even in this volatile market. Keeping with this theme, the midstream energy giant's recent financial results showed healthy growth, with distributable cash flow up 6% year over year to $2.2 billion.

On the value front, Enterprise Products Partners' forward price-to-earnings ratio (P/E) of approximately 10.1 represents a significant discount to the benchmark S&P 500 (SNPINDEX: ^GSPC), which trades at 19.4 times forward earnings. As a result, the company's equity offers an attractive valuation alongside its generous income stream.

What's the bottom line? Enterprise Products Partners represents a rare combination of high current yield, consistent distribution growth, and a compelling valuation. This midstream giant thus deserves serious consideration as a cornerstone holding in a dividend-focused portfolio. After all, Enterprise's critical infrastructure and increasing focus on natural gas (a transition fuel) should keep its cash flow and distributions flowing for years to come, even as the energy transition from fossil fuels to renewables evolves in the years ahead.

Powering portfolios with regulated stability

Duke Energy is one of the nation's largest utilities, delivering essential electricity and natural gas services to approximately 8.4 million electric customers and 1.7 million natural gas customers. This regulated business structure creates a solid foundation for predictable revenue and cash flow that remain relatively stable, even during economic downturns.

For income-focused investors, Duke presents a compelling opportunity with its current 3.37% dividend yield -- more than double the S&P 500's current yield of around 1.3%. While not as high as some other utilities, Duke compensates with exceptional dividend consistency, having paid dividends for 99 consecutive years and increased them annually for the past 18 years. This century-approaching dividend streak demonstrates management's unwavering commitment to shareholder returns.

Still, the company's 73% payout ratio is higher than many other blue chip dividend payers. That said, Duke's elevated payout ratio shouldn't be a major concern, given the company's steady cash flow and built-in regulatory protections.

From a valuation perspective, Duke stock trades at a forward P/E of 18.5, slightly below the S&P 500's 19.4 multiple. This relatively fair valuation is notable considering Duke's above-average growth prospects in the utility sector, supported by a 1.5% to 2% annual electricity demand growth that's expected to accelerate to 3% to 4% by 2027, thanks to rising energy demand from data centers.

The investment case in a nutshell? Duke Energy combines defensive utility characteristics with above-average growth potential in an increasingly electrified economy. While not the highest-yielding option, Duke offers a rare blend of dividend safety, growth visibility, and a reasonable valuation that makes it worthy of consideration in this challenging market.

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*Stock Advisor returns as of April 5, 2025

George Budwell has positions in Duke Energy. The Motley Fool recommends Duke Energy and Enterprise Products Partners. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.