Updated on May 23rd, 2025 by Bob Ciura
Passive income stocks help you build rising income for retirement and/or financial freedom. Passive income stocks are meant to be purchased once and never sold.
The beauty of earning passive income is that it allows investors to generate income for doing almost nothing.
The average dividend yield in the S&P 500 Index remains low at just 1.3%. As a result, income investors should focus on higher-yielding securities, if they want additional income from their stock portfolios.
With this in mind, we compiled a list of high dividend stocks with dividend yields above 5%. You can download your free copy of the high dividend stocks list by clicking on the link below:
This article will discuss 10 passive income stocks with current yields over 6%.
Importantly, these 10 stocks have durable competitive advantages and strong underlying earnings, which support their dividends.
These 10 passive income stocks also have dividend payout ratios at or below 70%, which indicates a sustainable dividend right now. The list also excludes stocks with a Dividend Risk score of ‘F’ in the Sure Analysis Research Database.
The 10 passive income stocks are listed below by current dividend yield, in ascending order.
Table of Contents
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- Passive Income Stock #10: Columbia Banking System (COLB)
- Passive Income Stock #9: Verizon Communications (VZ)
- Passive Income Stock #8: HA Sustainable Infrastructure Capital (HASI)
- Passive Income Stock #7: Enterprise Products Partners LP (EPD)
- Passive Income Stock #6: Polaris Inc. (PII)
- Passive Income Stock #5: Newtek One Inc. (NEWT)
- Passive Income Stock #4: Shutterstock Inc. (SSTK)
- Passive Income Stock #3: AES Corp. (AES)
- Passive Income Stock #2: Alexandria Real Estate Equities (ARE)
- Passive Income Stock #1: Plains All American Pipeline LP (PAA)
Passive Income Stock #10: Columbia Banking System (COLB)
- Dividend Yield: 6.1%
Columbia Banking System, Inc. (COLB) functions as the holding entity for Umpqua Bank, furnishing an array of commercial and retail banking services. Its offerings encompass diverse deposit products and comprehensive loan options tailored for individuals, businesses, and the agricultural sector.
Additionally, the company provides extensive financial services, serving various clientele in multiple states.
On April 23rd, 2025, Columbia Banking System announced results for the first quarter of 2025. Columbia Banking System reported non-GAAP EPS of $0.67 for Q1, beating estimates by $0.03, and revenues of $481.92 million that were up by 1.7% year-over-year.
In Q1 2025, Columbia Banking System announced a transformative all-stock merger with Pacific Premier Bancorp, set to create a $70 billion-asset Western U.S. banking leader.
The deal, expected to close in H2 2025, promises mid-teens EPS accretion and stronger Southern California scale. Meanwhile, Columbia opened its first Colorado branch, extending its regional footprint.
Click here to download our most recent Sure Analysis report on COLB (preview of page 1 of 3 shown below):
Passive Income Stock #9: Verizon Communications (VZ)
- Dividend Yield: 6.3%
Verizon Communications was created by a merger between Bell Atlantic Corp and GTE Corp in June 2000. Verizon is one of the largest wireless carriers in the country.
Wireless contributes three-quarters of all revenues, and broadband and cable services account for about a quarter of sales. The company’s network covers ~300 million people and 98% of the U.S.
On April 22nd, 2025, Verizon reported first quarter results for the period ending March 31st, 2025. For the quarter, revenue grew 1.5% to $33.5 billion, which topped estimates by $220 million.
Source: Investor Presentation
Adjusted earnings-per-share of $1.19 compared favorably to $1.15 in the prior year and was $0.04 ahead of expectations.
For the quarter, Verizon had postpaid phone net losses of 289K, which compares to net losses of 114K in the same period of last year. Wireless retail postpaid phone churn rate remains low at 0.90%.
Wireless revenue grew 2.7% to an industry-leading $20.8 billion while the Consumer segment increased 2.6% to $17.2 billion.
Broadband totaled 339K net new customers during the period, ending what had been 10th consecutive quarters of at least 375K net adds.
Click here to download our most recent Sure Analysis report on VZ (preview of page 1 of 3 shown below):
Passive Income Stock #8: HA Sustainable Infrastructure Capital (HASI)
- Dividend Yield: 6.6%
HA Sustainable Infrastructure Capital is a U.S. public company focused on climate change solutions, investing in energy efficiency, renewable energy, and sustainable infrastructure.
Its $14.5 billion portfolio is split into three divisions: Behind-the-Meter (60%) for solar, storage, and efficiency projects; Grid-Connected (29%) for large-scale solar and wind; and Fuels, Transport, & Nature (7%) for renewable gas, fleet decarbonization, and ecological restoration, and other categories (3%).
On May 7th, 2025, HA Sustainable Infrastructure Capital reported its Q1 2025 results for the period ending March 31st, 2025. For the first quarter, total revenues declined to about $97 million, reflecting an 8% year-over-year decrease.
This decline was primarily driven by lower gain on sale income compared to the unusually high levels recorded in Q1 2024 as part of a targeted asset rotation strategy.
Adjusted EPS for Q1 2025 was $0.64, representing a 6% decrease compared to the prior-year period. This slight decline was mainly due to a $10 million drop in gain on asset sales, partially offset by growth in adjusted net investment income, which increased to $72 million—up 12% year-over-year.
Click here to download our most recent Sure Analysis report on HASI (preview of page 1 of 3 shown below):
Passive Income Stock #7: Enterprise Products Partners LP (EPD)
- Dividend Yield: 6.8%
Enterprise Products Partners was founded in 1968. It is structured as a Master Limited Partnership, or MLP, and operates as an oil and gas storage and transportation company.
Enterprise Products has a large asset base which consists of nearly 50,000 miles of natural gas, natural gas liquids, crude oil, and refined products pipelines.
It also has storage capacity of more than 250 million barrels. These assets collect fees based on volumes of materials transported and stored.
Source: Investor Presentation
On April 29, 2025, Enterprise Products Partners L.P. reported its financial results for the first quarter of 2025. The company posted a net income attributable to common unitholders of $1.4 billion, or $0.64 per diluted unit, compared to $1.5 billion, or $0.66 per unit, in the same quarter of 2024.
Distributable cash flow (DCF) increased by 5% year-over-year to $2.0 billion, providing 1.7 times coverage of the declared distribution and allowing the partnership to retain $842 million for reinvestment.
Adjusted EBITDA remained strong at $2.4 billion, reflecting consistent operational performance. The company declared a quarterly distribution of $0.535 per common unit, a 3.9% increase from the previous year.
Click here to download our most recent Sure Analysis report on EPD (preview of page 1 of 3 shown below):
Passive Income Stock #6: Polaris Inc. (PII)
- Dividend Yield: 6.8%
Polaris designs, engineers, and manufactures snowmobiles, all-terrain vehicles (ATVs) and motorcycles. In addition, related accessories and replacement parts are sold with these vehicles through dealers located throughout the U.S.
The company operates under 30+ brands including Polaris, Ranger, RZR, Sportsman, Indian Motorcycle, Slingshot and Transamerican Auto Parts. The global powersports maker, serving over 100 countries, generated more than $7 billion in sales in 2024.
On April 29th, 2025, Polaris reported first quarter results for the period ending March 31st, 2025.
Source: Investor Presentation
For the quarter, revenue fell 11.5% to $1.54 billion, but this was $10 million above estimates.
Adjusted earnings-per-share of -$0.90 compared unfavorably to $0.23 in the prior year, but this was $0.01 better than expected.
For the quarter, Marine sales decreased 7%, On-Road was lower by 20%, and Off-Road, the largest component of the company, declined 10%. As with previous quarters, decreases in all three businesses were mostly due to lower volumes.
Click here to download our most recent Sure Analysis report on PII (preview of page 1 of 3 shown below):
Passive Income Stock #5: Newtek One Inc. (NEWT)
- Dividend Yield: 7.1%
NewtekOne, previously a business development company focused on financial services and SBA lending for small- and medium-sized businesses, became a financial holding company in January 2023 after acquiring the National Bank of New York City.
Today, it primarily operates as a bank holding company, providing traditional banking services such as deposits and lending, alongside business solutions such as payment processing, payroll management, technology, and insurance services.
NewtekOne’s financial reporting now consolidates results from its banking operations and various subsidiaries, reflecting a fully integrated financial services platform. The company generated $81.1 million in net interest income last year.
On May 6th, 2025, Newtek posted its Q1 results for the period ending March 31st, 2025. For the quarter, Newtek saw net income of $9.4 million, or diluted earnings per share (EPS) of $0.35, representing a 7.9% decline from the prior year.
Net interest income increased to $13.9 million, up 56.4% from Q1 2024. Its total assets reached $2.1 billion, marking a 52.1% rise year-over-year, with loans held for investment growing 36.7% to $672.5 million. Newtek’s net interest margin was 3.04%, up from 2.92% in the prior year.
Click here to download our most recent Sure Analysis report on NEWT (preview of page 1 of 3 shown below):
Passive Income Stock #4: Shutterstock Inc. (SSTK)
- Dividend Yield: 7.1%
Shutterstock sells high-quality creative content for brands, digital media and marketing companies through its global creative platform.
Shutterstock’s platform hosts the most extensive and diverse collection of high-quality 3D models, videos, music, photographs, vectors and illustrations for licensing. The $656 million company reported $935 million in revenues last year and is headquartered in New York, New York.
On January 7th, 2025, Shutterstock announced it entered a merger agreement with Getty Images through a merger of equals. The combined company will retain the name Getty Images Holdings, Inc and trade on the NYSE under ticker GETY.
The combined company would have revenue between $1,979 million and $1,993 million, 46% of it being subscription revenue. About $175 million of annual cost savings is forecast by the third year, with most of this expected after 1 to 2 years.
On May 2nd, 2025, Shutterstock published its first quarter results for the period ending March 31, 2025. While quarterly revenue grew by a solid 13% year-on-year, it missed analyst estimates by nearly $7 million. Adjusted EPS of $1.03 increased by 12%, and also missed analyst estimates by $0.01.
Click here to download our most recent Sure Analysis report on SSTK (preview of page 1 of 3 shown below):
Passive Income Stock #3: AES Corp. (AES)
- Dividend Yield: 7.2%
The AES (Applied Energy Services) Corporation has businesses in 14 countries and a portfolio of approximately 160 generation facilities. AES produces power through various fuel types, such as gas, renewables, coal, and oil/diesel.
The company has more than 36,000 Gross MW in operation. In 2024, AES produced $12.3 billion in revenues.
AES Corporation reported first quarter results on May 1st, 2025, for the period ending March 31, 2025. Adjusted EPS decreased 46% to $0.27 for Q1 2025, which missed analyst estimates by $0.07.
The company completed construction of 643 MW of energy storage and solar in the quarter, and signed or wawarded new long-term PPAs for 443 MW of solar and energy storage.
The company constructed and acquired 3 GW of renewable energy in 2024, as well as constructed a 670 MW combined cycle gas plant in Panama. Leadership maintained its 2025 guidance, expecting adjusted EPS of $2.10 to $2.26 for the full fiscal year.
Click here to download our most recent Sure Analysis report on AES (preview of page 1 of 3 shown below):
Passive Income Stock #2: Alexandria Real Estate Equities (ARE)
- Dividend Yield: 7.7%
Alexandria Real Estate Equities owns and operates life science, technology and ag-tech campuses across North America.
Key locations for this Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT) include Boston, San Francisco, New York, San Diego, Seattle, Maryland, and the Research Triangle (North Carolina).
On April 28th, 2025, Alexandria reported first quarter 2025 results for the period ending March 31st, 2025. For the quarter, the company generated $758 million in revenue, a 1.4% decrease compared to Q1 2024.
Adjusted funds from operations (FFO) totaled $392 million or $2.30 per share compared to $404 million or $2.35 per share in Q1 2024.
Alexandria ended the quarter with $5.3 billion in liquidity. And more than fifty percent of the company’s tenants are investment-grade or publicly traded large cap businesses.
Click here to download our most recent Sure Analysis report on ARE (preview of page 1 of 3 shown below):
Passive Income Stock #1: Plains All American Pipeline LP (PAA)
- Dividend Yield: 9.1%
Plains All American Pipeline, L.P. is a midstream energy infrastructure provider. The company owns an extensive network of pipeline transportation, terminalling, storage, and gathering assets in key crude oil and natural gas liquids producing basins at major market hubs in the United States and Canada.
On average, it handles more than 7 million barrels per day of crude oil and NGL through 18,370 miles of active pipelines and gathering systems. Plains All American generates around $40 billion in annual revenues and is based in Houston, Texas.
On May 9th, 2025, Plains All American posted its Q1 results for the period ending March 31st, 2025. For the quarter, revenues came in at $12.0 billion, flat compared to last year. Adjusted EBITDA from crude oil increased by 1% year-over-year, primarily due to higher tariff volumes on our pipelines, tariff escalations and contributions from acquisitions.
These benefits were largely offset by higher operating expenses and the impact of refinery downtime on our assets. Adjusted EBITDA from NGL rose 19% year-over-year primarily due to higher weighted average frac spreads and increased NGL sales volumes in the first quarter of 2025.
Click here to download our most recent Sure Analysis report on PAA (preview of page 1 of 3 shown below):
Final Thoughts & Additional Reading
If you are interested in finding high-quality dividend growth stocks and/or other high-yield securities and income securities, the following Sure Dividend resources will be useful:
High-Yield Individual Security Research
Other Sure Dividend Resources
- Dividend Kings: 50+ years of rising dividends
- Dividend Aristocrats: 25+ years of rising dividends and in the S&P 500
- Monthly Dividend Stocks: Individual securities that pay out every month