Three analyst-rated dividend payers — plus one ETF — for investors who want to be paid while they wait.
This report is for informational and educational purposes only and is not personalized investment advice. Analyst ratings, price targets and dividend yields are published by third parties and can change at any time. Dividends are not guaranteed and can be cut. Always do your own research and consider speaking with a licensed financial advisor before investing.
Why Dividend Stocks Belong on Your Watchlist in 2027
A dividend is the one part of a stock's return that doesn't depend on what the market thinks tomorrow. It's cash, paid to you, on a schedule — and a company that has raised it every year for decades has proven it can earn through recessions, rate shocks and crashes.
That track record matters more now than it has in years. The headline AI stocks that led the market have started to wobble, and investors who were happy to own zero-yield growth names at any price are rediscovering the appeal of getting paid while they wait.
Three things to understand about dividend investing in 2027:
- Yield is only half the story. A 7% yield from a company that cuts it next year is worse than a 2% yield that grows 5% annually for the next 20. This report deliberately mixes both: one long-streak grower and two higher-yield payers, each with a Buy consensus.
- Dividend growers compound quietly. Coca-Cola has raised its dividend every year for more than six decades. An investor who bought a decade ago is now collecting a far higher yield on their original cost than the headline number suggests.
- Energy infrastructure pays regardless of the oil price. Pipeline operators collect fees for moving natural gas and liquids. Volume matters; the commodity price mostly doesn't. That makes their payouts far steadier than the producers they serve.
How we picked these stocks
Every company in this report meets three tests: (1) a current consensus rating of Moderate Buy or better from Wall Street analysts tracked by MarketBeat, (2) a consensus 12-month price target above the current share price, and (3) a dividend that has been raised recently, not cut. We also included one low-cost ETF for investors who prefer diversified exposure.
Pick #1: Coca-Cola (NYSE: KO)
The dividend grower everyone recognizes.
Coca-Cola is a Dividend King — the company has raised its payout every single year for more than 60 consecutive years, one of the longest streaks of any American business. The current quarterly dividend is $0.53 per share ($2.12 annualized), paid most recently on October 1, 2026.
The business behind it is about as simple as they come: more than 200 brands sold in nearly every country on earth, with pricing power that lets it pass inflation through to customers. That's why analysts stay constructive even at a premium valuation. On October 28, 2026 alone, UBS, Morgan Stanley and Wells Fargo all raised their price targets after the company's latest results.
| Dividend yield | ~2.3% ($2.12 annualized) |
| Consensus rating | Moderate Buy (21 Buy / 3 Hold / 0 Sell, 24 analysts) |
| Consensus price target | $97.26 (range $82–$106) |
| Price at time of writing | ~$92.84 (Oct 28, 2026 close) |
| Implied upside to target | ~5% |
| Recent actions | UBS Buy, target to $106 (Oct 28); Morgan Stanley Overweight, target to $103 (Oct 28); Wells Fargo Overweight, target to $100 (Oct 28) |
What to watch: The yield is the lowest in this report, so this is the growth-and-safety position, not the income engine. Coca-Cola's payout ratio has crept up in recent years, which is worth monitoring, though the company has never let it interrupt the streak. Currency swings and health-driven shifts away from sugary drinks are the long-term risks.
Sources: MarketBeat, Coca-Cola analyst forecasts, retrieved Oct 29, 2026; 24/7 Wall St., Oct 2, 2026.
Pick #2: Kinder Morgan (NYSE: KMI)
The toll collector on America's natural gas.
Kinder Morgan owns or operates roughly 79,000 miles of pipelines, moving about 40% of the natural gas consumed in the United States. It doesn't drill for gas and it doesn't much care what gas costs — it charges a fee to move it, under long-term contracts, which is why its cash flow is far steadier than the energy producers it serves.
Management's 2026 plan calls for an annualized dividend of $1.19 per share, the ninth consecutive annual increase, funded from budgeted net income of about $3.1 billion and adjusted EBITDA near $8.7 billion. Nearly $3.4 billion in expansion spending — much of it on gas pipelines serving power plants and export terminals — is being paid for out of internally generated cash, with leverage targeted at the low end of the company's range.
| Dividend yield | ~3.5% ($0.2975 quarterly, $1.19 annualized) |
| Consensus rating | Moderate Buy (12 Buy / 11 Hold / 0 Sell, 23 analysts) |
| Consensus price target | $36.85 (range $30–$43) |
| Price at time of writing | ~$34.01 (Oct 29, 2026 close) |
| Implied upside to target | ~8% |
| Recent actions | RBC target raised to $38 (Oct 28); UBS reiterated Buy (Oct 27); Scotiabank target raised to $34 (Oct 27) |
What to watch: Analysts are split almost evenly between Buy and Hold — this is a steady-income position, not a momentum play. Kinder Morgan cut its dividend in 2015 during the last energy downturn; it has rebuilt the payout every year since, but the history is worth knowing. Regulatory delays on new pipelines are the main growth risk.
Sources: MarketBeat, Kinder Morgan analyst forecasts, retrieved Oct 29, 2026; Kinder Morgan 2026 Financial Expectations, Business Wire, Dec 8, 2025.
Pick #3: Energy Transfer (NYSE: ET)
The high-yield payer with 20 straight raises.
Energy Transfer is one of the largest energy infrastructure partnerships in the country, with pipelines, processing plants and storage that handle natural gas, crude oil and natural gas liquids across the major U.S. producing basins. Like Kinder Morgan, it earns fees on volume rather than betting on commodity prices.
What sets it apart is the payout. On October 22, 2026, the partnership announced its twentieth consecutive quarterly distribution increase, to $0.3425 per unit ($1.37 annualized), up more than 3% from a year earlier. At today's unit price that is a yield above 6% — roughly triple what Coca-Cola pays — and analysts still see the most upside of the three names in this report.
| Distribution yield | ~6.6% ($0.3425 quarterly, $1.37 annualized) |
| Consensus rating | Moderate Buy (14 Buy / 3 Hold / 0 Sell, 17 analysts) |
| Consensus price target | $24.60 (range $23–$26) |
| Price at time of writing | ~$20.88 (Oct 29, 2026 close) |
| Implied upside to target | ~18% |
| Next payment | Record date Nov 6, 2026; payable Nov 19, 2026 |
What to watch: Energy Transfer is a master limited partnership, not a corporation. That means you receive a K-1 tax form instead of a 1099, which adds a step at tax time and can create complications inside an IRA. The partnership also cut its distribution in half in 2020 before rebuilding it — the 20-quarter streak dates from that recovery. The yield is the reward for accepting that history.
Sources: MarketBeat, Energy Transfer stock profile, retrieved Oct 29, 2026; Energy Transfer distribution announcement, Business Wire, Oct 22, 2026.
Bonus: Schwab U.S. Dividend Equity ETF (NYSE Arca: SCHD)
About 100 dividend payers for six hundredths of a percent.
If you'd rather own the category than pick the companies, SCHD is the most popular dividend ETF in the country, with roughly $119 billion in assets. It tracks an index that screens for companies with at least ten consecutive years of dividend payments, then ranks them on cash flow, return on equity, yield and dividend growth — a quality filter, not just a yield chase. Coca-Cola is a top-ten holding; Chevron, Procter & Gamble, PepsiCo and Home Depot sit alongside it.
| Expense ratio | 0.06% |
| Dividend yield | ~3.0% ($1.05 annual) |
| Total assets | ~$119 billion (as of Oct 27, 2026) |
| Top holdings | Texas Instruments, Chevron, ConocoPhillips, Procter & Gamble, Coca-Cola, UnitedHealth, Qualcomm, Home Depot, Amgen, PepsiCo |
| Best for | Investors who want a diversified, low-cost income core without single-stock risk |
What to watch: SCHD's screen excludes REITs and master limited partnerships, so it will never hold Energy Transfer or similar high-yield names — it is a complement to the picks above, not a substitute for all of them. Its heavy weighting toward energy and consumer staples means it can lag the broad market when growth stocks lead.
Source: StockAnalysis.com, SCHD profile and holdings, retrieved Oct 29, 2026.
Putting It Together
These four positions are designed to work as a set, not a menu:
- Coca-Cola — the grower. Lowest yield, longest streak, least likely to ever cut.
- Kinder Morgan — the steady middle. A 3.5% yield backed by fee-based pipeline contracts.
- Energy Transfer — the income engine. Over 6% and rising, with the K-1 and the 2020 history as the trade-off.
- SCHD — the diversified core, or a simple one-ticket alternative for investors who don't want to pick.
Blended equally, the three stocks yield roughly 4% today — about the same as a 10-year Treasury, with the difference that every one of them raised its payout in the last twelve months. Reinvesting dividends rather than spending them is the single biggest lever in how this plays out over a decade.
Three signals to monitor
- Payout ratios — a dividend that exceeds free cash flow for more than a year or two is the leading indicator of a cut. Coca-Cola's is the one to watch most closely.
- Natural gas volumes — both pipeline names rise and fall on how much gas moves, not what it costs. LNG export growth and power-plant demand are the tailwinds.
- Interest rates — lower rates make dividend yields more attractive relative to bonds and CDs; a renewed rise in rates is the main headwind for the whole category.
