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The Best Dividend Stocks to Buy in May

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Key Points

  • Coca-Cola and Procter & Gamble continue to deliver solid financial results.

  • Both companies recently increased their quarterly dividends, and both have payout-hiking streaks of more than 60 consecutive years.

When volatility is dominating the stock market, there's nothing like holding a portfolio of stocks that deposit cash into your account every quarter. Many top consumer brands pay regular dividends from their earnings, and some of the best ones have increased their dividends every year for decades. Here are two to consider adding to your portfolio right now.

1. Coca-Cola

Coca-Cola (NYSE: KO) is a 139-year-old brand that continues to deliver returns for investors in 2025. It owns an array of beverage brands across the soda, juice, tea, coffee, energy, and water categories that combine to generate $47 billion in annual sales. Its impressive business performance is attracting investor attention -- the stock is up more than 14% year to date.

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The company recently increased its quarterly payout by 5% to $0.51 -- a move that brought its dividend-hiking streak to 63 consecutive years.  Its forward dividend yield at the current share prices is now an attractive 2.8%.

With a payout ratio that has hovered at around three-quarters of annual earnings in recent years, Coca-Cola has enough financial flexibility to continue paying its dividends even during a recession. Despite rising macroeconomic uncertainty and turbulence in the first quarter, Coke's adjusted (non-GAAP) revenue increased by 6% year over year in the quarter. Its unit case volume grew 2% year over year, indicating stable demand overall.

This is a highly profitable business. Even if a recession put pressure on its top line, Coca-Cola could still deliver enough earnings to keep growing its dividend by effectively managing costs. In Q1, its adjusted operating margin improved by 1.4 percentage points over the prior-year period to 33.8%.

Moreover, management sees plenty of opportunities for growth over the long term, especially in emerging markets, which comprise around 80% of the world's population. In fact, the only market where its unit case volume fell last quarter was North America, and that decline was offset by stronger sales internationally.

The stock's high dividend yield -- about twice the 1.4% average of the S&P 500 -- and the company's diverse portfolio of beverage brands make Coca-Cola stock an excellent option for investors looking to boost their passive income.