Realty Income’s dividend yield stands at 5%, and the trust has raised that payout at least once a year for over 30 years. The Motley Fool put that record at the center of a list of income stocks it says can help investors avoid cuts.
For income-focused investors, the practical point is simple: a steadier payout can matter more than a higher headline yield if the income stream is less likely to be reduced. Realty Income, Altria Group, and PepsiCo are the three names highlighted for that reason.
Realty Income and Altria
73% of Realty Income’s guided 2026 funds from operations goes to shareholders through dividends, a payout level that leaves some cash inside the business. The company is a real estate investment trust that acquires and leases properties, and it specializes in single-tenant buildings rented to recession-resistant businesses such as grocery and convenience stores.
81% of Altria Group’s cash flow is used for dividends, a high share that still leaves room because the company can raise prices even as cigarette volumes fall. Altria is best known for selling Marlboro cigarettes in the United States, and its dividend has kept rising even as smoking in the United States has declined for decades.
PepsiCo and defensive cash flow
PepsiCo brings a different kind of support. Its mix of food and beverages, including Frito-Lay and Quaker Foods, gives it more than one source of sales, and that balance is why it is treated as a defensive income stock rather than a one-product bet.
5.8% is Altria’s current yield, higher than Realty Income’s 5%, while analysts see earnings growing at an average of 4% to 5% annually over the next three to five years. Altria also owns a multi-billion-dollar stake in Anheuser-Busch InBev, which adds another source of value beyond cigarettes and helps explain why the dividend is still supported despite the slow-growth core business.
Dividend safety over yield alone
30 years of annual increases is the clearest signal in the set. Realty Income pays monthly, Altria keeps lifting cash returns while smoking trends fade, and PepsiCo adds a broader consumer base through iconic brands. For readers comparing income stocks, the useful filter is not the biggest yield on the page; it is whether the payout is backed by recurring cash flow, room under the payout ratio, and a business that can keep operating through weaker cycles.
