Investors like to think juicy S&P 500 dividends will protect them from sell-offs. But not even that is working this time.
Seven S&P 500 stocks, including Dow and LyondellBasell Industries, yield 7% or more, says an Investor's Business Daily analysis of data from S&P Global Market Intelligence and MarketSurge. But only one of them, Altria Group, has a stock price gain this year, too, on top of the big dividend.
And that's the difficulty in this market decline at the hands of the Trump administration's tariff policies. There are few places to hide — including in some typical safe havens.
"Apparently, President Trump is a man who can move markets, both to the upside and the downside," said Jeffrey Roach, chief economist for LPL Financial. "During his second term, the President has created a cloud of uncertainty surrounding trade policy, and the various press conferences and social media posts have been tools for volatility."
Chemicals Pay Big Yields
Chemical companies continue to be a source of big yields in the S&P 500.
Dow yields nearly 10% and LyondellBasell 9.5%. Those are the highest yields in the S&P 500, where the average yield of dividend payers is 2.6%. But those dividends don't go far with the stocks as they fall. Shares of Dow are down nearly 28% this year and LyondellBasell is off 22%.
And that's pretty typical. Shares of six of the seven highest yielding S&P 500 stocks are lower this year. But there's one important exception: Altria.
Altria: The Ultimate Safety Play
When it comes to playing defense, shares of Altria are tough to beat. Demand for tobacco products doesn't wane when the economy slows down. Plus, the shares yield an impressive 7.1%.
And for those reasons, shares of Altria are up nearly 13% this year. That's pretty strong as the S&P 500 itself is down roughly 10% this year. Altria stock sports an RS Rating of 93. And shares are only 1% past their buy point.
So it seems dividends alone aren't enough to protect investors in this market.
Top Dividend Yields In The S&P 500
| Company | Ticker | Yield % | Stock YTD % ch. |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dow | DOW | 9.95% | -27.7% |
| LyondellBasell Industries | LYB | 9.52 | -21.7% |
| Ford Motor | F | 7.91 | -2.5% |
| Pfizer | PFE | 7.80 | -15.1% |
| Franklin Resources | BEN | 7.37 | -11.0% |
| AES | AES | 7.18 | -22.5% |
| Altria Group | MO | 7.07 | 12.5% |
