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Realty Income (O) raised its investment guidance to $5.5B and maintains a 98.7% occupancy rate across its commercial properties.
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Chevron (CVX) reported record Q3 production of 4.1M barrels of oil equivalent per day driven by its Hess acquisition.
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Enterprise Products Partners (EPD) generated $1.35B in net income during Q3 and offers a 6.98% yield.
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We’re nearing 2026, and now is a good time for investors to explore the best dividend stocks, as economic and market uncertainty continue to rise. The government shutdown has been the longest on record, and employment growth is down. Amidst the uncertainty, it is ideal to park your money in income-producing stocks.
This is where dividend stocks like Realty Income (NYSE:O), Chevron Corp. (NYSE: CVX) and Enterprise Products Partners L.P. (NYSE: EPD) stand out.
Realty Income is a real estate investment trust (REIT) and is a highly dependable stock. The company pays monthly dividends and has a yield of 5.6%. It has an excellent record of paying dividends. Realty Income calls itself “The Monthly Dividend Company” and has paid dividends for the past 112 consecutive quarters.
It has a highly successful business model where it manages to generate stable cash flow. Realty Income owns a wide portfolio of commercial properties across different countries, and these properties are secured by long-term net leases. This allows the company to maintain low operating costs since the majority of expenses are covered by the tenants. That said, Realty Income has a high occupancy rate of 98.7%, and the lease is backed by annual escalation clauses.
In the recent quarter, Realty Income increased its investment guidance to $5.5 billion, highlighting strategic expansion plans in Europe. It reported the adjusted funds from operations of $1.05 per share with an operating margin of 45.68%.
The company has a rock-solid balance sheet, which gives it the flexibility to keep investing in new properties and continue growing dividends. As investments grow, the rental income will rise and the company will increase its monthly dividend payment.
Oil and gas giant Chevron Corporation is a dividend aristocrat with a yield of 4.44%. The company has increased dividends for 38 consecutive years and has stood strong despite the fluctuations in crude oil prices. An integrated energy company, Chevron is an upstream, midstream, and downstream business. This allows it to generate steady cash flow despite volatility in the sector.
In the third quarter, Chevron reported earnings of $3.5 billion and cash flow from operations of $9.4 billion. It reported a record production of 4.1 million barrels of oil equivalent (BOE) per day. The record Q3 output shows strong momentum and confidence in the business. It reported a 21% jump in worldwide production, and this increase was driven by its acquisition of Hess, which increased output from the existing operations.
Exchanging hands for $155, CVX stock is up 5.6% in 2025 and could keep moving higher. This is one stock to buy and hold for decades. The demand for oil is never going to drop, and this means Chevron will continue generating revenue and distributing dividends. It also has an attractive balance sheet with low debt.
Several analysts believe that the company will not be able to report a double-digit earnings growth, but I think its dividends make it worth a buy. Investors can continue to enjoy a meaningful jump in the yield without taking more risk.
Enterprise Products Partners is another high-powered dividend stock worth buying before 2026. The company has a yield of 6.98% and has increased its distribution for 27 consecutive years, every year since the IPO. Enterprise Products Partners is a midstream company that transports fossil fuels from where they are drilled to the place where they’re stored.
It is a midstream energy giant that has several assets under long-term fee-based contracts or government-regulated rate structures. This allows it to generate stable cash flow each year. It distributes a part of the same in dividends and retains the remaining to invest for expansion.
The company doesn’t engage in mining or selling the product. Hence, it remains unaffected by the commodity prices. This allows it to continue investing in the business without worrying about the rise and fall of oil prices.
In the third quarter, the company reported a revenue of $12.02 billion and a net income of $1.35 billion. Despite a slight dip in revenue, the company has maintained the yield, which makes it one of the best stocks to own amid market uncertainty.
Exchanging hands for $31, the stock has remained flat this year and looks cheap to me. Its 5-year dividend growth rate is 3.95%, and pays $2.18 per share in annual dividend.
