Despite ongoing tensions in the Middle East, volatile oil prices, inflation concerns, and President Trump’s unpredictable rhetoric, U.S. stocks remain remarkably resilient. The S&P 500 has pushed back toward record highs as investors continue pouring money into tech and AI-linked names. Strong corporate earnings, massive AI infrastructure spending, and surprisingly durable economic data have helped offset many of the macro concerns weighing on sentiment.
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While growth stocks continue attracting plenty of attention as Wall Street chases the AI boom, geopolitical uncertainty, elevated valuations, and higher-for-longer interest rate concerns are also prompting many investors to look for steadier sources of return alongside capital appreciation.
That’s where high-yield dividend stocks come in. Those names can provide investors with something many growth-focused stocks cannot always offer: consistent income. And during periods when volatility rises or stock gains become harder to sustain, those dividend payments can become a much larger portion of total portfolio returns.
The question, then, is which dividend stocks stand out right now? One approach is to focus on companies offering high yields while still keeping Wall Street on their side. Using the TipRanks database, we found two names with dividend yields above 7% that analysts currently view favorably. Let’s find out why.
MPLX (MPLX)
We’ll start with a master limited partnership company, MPLX. This firm was originally spun off from Marathon Petroleum, and took the parent company’s midstream network and logistics assets public as an independent entity. Today, MPLX is a major player in the North American hydrocarbon industry’s midstream sector, and also has a large-scale fuel distribution business.
MPLX’s primary business lies in its large network of midstream and logistics assets, including pipelines, natural gas processing plants, fractionation facilities, and storage infrastructure. Through its MarkWest operations, the company has also become one of the larger natural gas processors and NGL fractionators in the United States. MPLX’s asset network spans several major hydrocarbon regions, including the Permian Basin, Appalachia, the Gulf Coast, and the Bakken.
We should note that MPLX has been making changes to its network recently. Until last November, MPLX also operated assets in the Rocky Mountains; that month, the company completed a sale of those assets to Harvest Midstream for $1 billion in cash. And in September of last year, the company completed a $2.375 billion purchase of Northwind Midstream, acquiring significant assets in Lea County, New Mexico.
Management is also continuing to expand MPLX’s natural gas and NGL infrastructure footprint, particularly in the Permian and Marcellus basins. Current growth projects include expansions of sour gas treating capacity in the Delaware Basin, additional fractionation infrastructure, and the Harmon Creek III processing plant, which is expected to enter service later this year.
Supplementing its land-based assets, MPLX operates a range of transport assets on the Tennessee, Ohio, and Mississippi Rivers, linking a network of natural gas gathering and processing facilities, and light and heavy oil product storage farms, to maritime transport and terminal facilities on the Gulf Coast. The transport assets depend on a large-scale storage operation, and MPLX operates both above- and below-ground hydrocarbon storage farms.
MPLX is well-known as a ‘dividend champ.’ The company has been paying out quarterly dividends, without missing a payment, since 2013. The last dividend declaration was made on April 28, setting the regular common share dividend at $1.0765. This payment was sent out on May 15; at the annualized rate of $4.31 per share, the dividend gives a forward yield of 7.6%.
The company’s earnings, reported in May for 1Q26, showed a top line of $3.04 billion for the quarter. This was down 2.6% year-over-year, and came in some $55 million below the forecast. At the bottom line, MPLX reported a GAAP EPS of 90 cents, down from the $1.10 reported one year earlier, and 15 cents lower than had been expected.
The payout nevertheless remained well-supported by cash generation. During the quarter, MPLX generated $1.408 billion in distributable cash flow and covered its distribution by 1.3x. Free cash flow in the quarter came to $549 million, compared to $641 million in the prior year period. MPLX ended the quarter with a leverage ratio of 3.7x, a level management continues to view as comfortable for the business.
For Truist analyst Gabriel Daoud, the key here is MPLX’s ability to keep up efficient operations. He writes of the company, “While 1Q26 had multiple moving parts, including a full quarter without the Rockies assets and winter weather impact, our view remains that the advancement of the Northwind/Titan facility and build out of other pipelines remains the story for ’26e. While there was nothing new under the sun per se, all projects appear on schedule, and MPLX is executing on its return of capital, while growing the base business to keep doing so in out-years.”
These comments support the analyst’s Buy rating on MPLX, while his $66 price target points toward a one-year upside potential of nearly 17%. Add in the dividend yield, and this stock can deliver a total one-year return of just over 24%. (To watch Daoud’s track record, click here)
Overall, there are 9 recent analyst reviews on record for MPLX, and the 6-to-3 split between Buys and Holds gives the stock a Moderate Buy consensus rating. The shares are trading for $56.47 and the average price target, at $61.23, implies about 8% gain by this time next year. (See MPLX stock forecast)
Diversified Energy Company (DEC)
Next up is Diversified Energy Company, an energy producer focused on mature natural gas assets in Appalachia and the Central United States. The company operates in several major hydrocarbon-producing regions, including Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Ohio, Texas, Oklahoma, and Louisiana. Given that footprint, it’s no surprise natural gas remains at the core of Diversified’s business and accounts for the large majority of its production mix. That operating base continued delivering meaningful output in the first quarter of this year, when the company reported average daily production of approximately 200 Mboepd.
Diversified also has extensive midstream operations, which include over 17,000 miles of pipelines for both gathering and transportation of hydrocarbon products. The combination of extensive upstream and midstream networks gives the company an integrated set of assets that allows the company to live up to its name.
The company is also active in marketing natural gas, a vital source of energy in the US economy. Natural gas is the cleanest-burning of the fossil fuels and is popular in a wide range of uses, from home heating to firing industrial boilers to fueling electric power plants. Diversified has 261 actively managed sales points for natural gas in 25 active markets. The company markets approximately 1.2 bcf of natural gas every day.
Diversified has also been expanding through acquisitions. Over the past year, the company integrated the Maverick, Canvas, and Sheridan transactions, which increased both production volumes and liquids exposure. Earlier this month, Diversified also announced a $1.175 billion acquisition of certain Camino Natural Resources assets in Oklahoma through a partnership with Carlyle, further expanding the company’s Anadarko Basin footprint and future drilling inventory.
On the 6th of this month, Diversified declared a 29-cent common share dividend, to be paid out on September 30. The dividend annualizes to $1.16 per share and gives a forward yield of 7.5%. The company has been paying out dividends since 2018 and has kept the payment steady at its current rate for the past 10 declarations.
In its 1Q26 financial release, the company showed a top line, as total commodity revenue, of $556 million. This was up 68% from the $329 million reported in 1Q25. The company reported a net loss in the quarter of $161 million, largely due to unrealized and non-cash derivative losses tied to hedging activity. Despite that, adjusted free cash flow increased to $160 million.
This stock has caught the attention of Stephens analyst Mike Scialla, who likes the business model, the strong portfolio, and the company’s high likelihood of maintaining the dividend. Summing up his thoughts here, Scialla writes, “With a differentiated business model focused on the acquisition and optimization of proved developed producing assets, the company is well-positioned to continue to generate consistent, double-digit growth and strong returns. Portfolio optimization via JVs with operating partners or divestitures to E&P companies looking for drilling inventory could boost cash flow. We look for DEC to continue to repurchase shares while paying the highest fixed dividend yield in our natural gas group.”
The Stephens analyst goes on to put an Overweight (i.e., Buy) rating on DEC shares, along with a $24 price target that implies a ~59% upside for the coming year. Add in the dividend yield, and this stock’s one-year return potential approaches 66%. (To watch Scialla’s track record, click here)
Overall, DEC has earned a unanimous Strong Buy consensus rating on Wall Street, based on 6 recent positive analyst reviews. The shares are trading for $15.11, and their $23.50 average target price suggests an upside of 55.5% on the one-year horizon. (See DEC stock forecast)
Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the featured analysts. The content is intended to be used for informational purposes only. It is very important to do your own analysis before making any investment.
Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: finance.yahoo.com
