5 Stocks With Above-Market Yields Just Raised Payments Further

January 30, 2025 at 08:00 AM EST

With the stock market going through its first earnings season of 2025, companies are making important announcements. This includes the approval of share buyback programs, as well as dividend increases. Below, I’ll detail five stocks already providing market-exceeding yields and recently raised their quarterly dividend payment. The benchmark yield for comparison is the SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (NYSEARCA: SPY), which tracks the performance of the S&P 500 Index. Its dividend yield is approximately 1.2%. All dividend yield and return data use prices as of the Jan. 27 close.

Fastenal: Dividend Upped by Double-Digit Percentage

Among stocks on this list, Fastenal (NASDAQ: FAST) raised its dividend the most on a percentage basis. The company’s quarterly dividend payment will rise from $0.39 per share to $0.43 per share, a 10% increase. Since 1991, Fastenal has consistently raised its dividend payments; however, it didn’t start paying quarterly dividends until 2011.

The company has also demonstrated a willingness to intermittently provide special dividend payments at the end of the calendar year. It has done so four times since 2008, most recently with a $0.38 payment in 2023. If the company pays out the $0.43 payment in every quarter of 2025 and does not issue a special dividend, its indicated dividend yield is just under 2.3%.

Valero Energy: Shares and Quarterly Dividend on the Rise

Oil refiner Valero Energy (NYSE: VLO) just raised its quarterly dividend payment to $1.13, a 6% increase. The company’s indicated dividend yield now sits at 3.2%. The company’s dividend yield has fallen substantially over the past several years; it was over 5% at the beginning of 2022.

This decline was largely due to an approximately 90% increase in the company’s share price over the first five months of 2022. Over that period, the price of West Texas Intermediate Crude Oil increased by around 50%. Oil stocks are climbing again to start off 2025, as the Trump administration is creating positive sentiment around the industry. Shares of Valero are up over 15% in less than 30 days.

Elevance Health: Dividend Growth Continues Despite Tough Health Insurance Landscape

Elevance Health (NYSE: ELV) has raised its quarterly dividend by 5%, up to $1.71 per share. The company’s indicated dividend yield now sits at just under 1.7%. This is solidly higher than the company’s average dividend yield over the past five years of around 1.2%. This was driven by a dramatic decline in the company’s share price between September and December 2024. However, shares of Elevance have recovered over the past five weeks, up 12%.

The company reported better-than-expected results in its last earnings release. Its operating income, in particular, impressed. Despite a tough environment and rising medical costs, Elevance remains committed to providing investment income, as demonstrated by this increase.

ONEOK: Yield Back Above 4%

ONEOK (NYSE: OKE), a major player within the midstream segment of the natural gas and natural gas liquids industry, just raised its dividend by 4%. The company’s annualized dividend is now $4.12 per share, giving it the highest indicated dividend yield on this list at 4.1%. ONEOK makes its bones in its natural gas liquids segment, which generated 74% of its revenue last quarter.

This business differs from the liquefied natural gas industry, which cools and liquefies methane for transport. Natural gas liquids are byproducts of processing natural gas into pure methane. Natural gas liquids include substances like propane, ethane, and butane, which are liquids when pressurized. This is an important distinction to understand. The U.S. natural gas liquids industry has grown at just 3% annually since 2019, while the liquefied natural gas industry has grown massively.

SLB: Dividend Continues to Recover After Pandemic Drop

Last up is Schlumberger (NYSE: SLB), doing business as SLB, which increased its dividend by 4%. The company’s annualized dividend now sits at $1.14 per share. This gives the stock an annualized dividend yield of just under 2.7%. If the payment holds for every quarter in 2025, this would be the fourth consecutive year the firm has raised its annual dividend.

Financial difficulties in 2020 and 2021 forced the firm to massively decrease its annual dividend payouts. From 2015 to 2019, the company paid out $2 per share in annual dividends. By 2021, the figure had dropped to $0.50. The business has recovered, with revenues and earnings growing strongly over the past few years.

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