2 Ultra High Yield Dividend Stocks to Buy Now

Well-chosen dividend stocks can help you build generous streams of passive income that you can rely on to grow consistently year after year. To help you search for these wealth generators, here are two high-yielding stocks with proven histories of rewarding their investors with ample and reliable dividends.

Action no. 1 High Yield to Buy: Verizon Communications

Verizon Communications (See 0.14%) excels at turning connectivity services into cash for its shareholders. The telecom leader currently offers a great way to grow your passive income with its consistent 6.2% dividend yield.

Verizon provides fast 5G wireless service to more than 114 million retail customers and 30 million business customers. With retention rates that are typically over 98%, these accounts produce reliable profits, which Verizon passes on to its shareholders in growing cash payouts. The telecom giant generated nearly $14 billion in free cash flow over the past 12 months. That allowed Verizon to raise its dividend for the 18th consecutive year earlier this month.

Image source: Verizon Communications.

The dividend stalwart also recently completed a $20 billion deal to acquire a fiber internet provider Border communicationswhich should help it extend this impressive dividend growth streak. Management expects the deal to strengthen Verizon’s ability to bundle Internet, television and home phone services, which can reduce customer churn by as much as 50 percent compared to those subscribing to its wireless service alone.

Frontier would add more than 2 million fiber subscribers to Verizon’s approximately 7.4 million Fios Internet connections. The combined company will have a potential fiber customer base of more than 25 million, based on the number of households connected to Verizon’s and Frontier’s fiber networks.

Verizon’s acquisition of Frontier is expected to close in approximately 18 months, subject to shareholder and regulatory approval. Verizon expects the deal to be accretive to adjusted earnings shortly after closing.

Action no. 2 high yield to buy: Real estate income

Real estate can be another great source of passive income. Real estate income (A -0.32%) offers investors an easy and low-risk way to cash in on this lucrative asset class.

Realty Income is structured as a real estate investment trust (REIT). That means it is built to buy properties and pass the income they earn on to shareholders. With 650 consecutive months of cash payouts, including 107 consecutive quarterly increases, Realty Income’s dividends are as reliable as they come.

The real estate giant owns more than 15,000 commercial properties in the US and Europe. It leases these properties to over 1,500 different tenants in 90 industries. This broad diversification is a key part of Realty Income’s prudent risk management strategy.

Focusing on businesses that tend to hold up well in tough economic times also helps reduce risk for investors. Convenience stores, auto repair shops and grocery chains are well represented in Realty Income’s portfolio. It’s a smart strategy that has helped the REIT maintain impressive occupancy rates of 96% or higher since 1992.

Today, Realty Income’s dividend yield stands at a solid 5%. With the Federal Reserve set to begin cutting interest rates as early as this month, REIT financing costs should decline over the next year. That should make its real estate investments more profitable — and lead to higher dividend payouts for investors who buy Realty Income shares today.