With Volatility Spiking, These Are the Smartest Dividend Stocks to Buy Today

To say the stock market has been volatile over the past month amid the chaos in the Middle East between the U.S., Israel, and Iran would be a colossal understatement, to say the very least.

Stocks sink one day, only to recover the next at the slightest hint of the conflict escalating or calming down. Just take a look at the incredible rally the market had when news of a two-week ceasefire broke on April 7.

For high-risk traders and people who focus on options, that's great news. But for the average investor, and especially for people nearing retirement, it's exhausting and worrying. The solution is dividend stocks.

Dividend stocks, even some of those engaged in the oil and gas industry, have been far less volatile than the broader market. The two in this article are some of the best stable high-yield dividend stocks to consider adding to your portfolio as a safe port in a stormy market.

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Veni, Vidi, VICI

Up first is VICI Properties (NYSE: VICI), a real estate investment trust (REIT) focused on the Las Vegas Strip but also diversified across the United States and Canada that has remained fairly stable in terms of price thus far in 2026.

If that doesn't pique your interest, it also features a 6.44% yield at current prices. As a REIT, VICI Properties has to pay out 90% of its taxable income as a dividend. Right now, that dividend is $1.78 per share annually. For a REIT, VICI has a fairly low payout ratio of 67.6%.

That means VICI has plenty of room to continue its seven-year dividend growth streak for the foreseeable future.

With a 100% occupancy rate across its 54 gaming properties, 39 experimental non-gambling properties, and four golf courses and an average lease term of almost 40 years, the company should have no issue coming up with the cash to do just that.

VICI's revenue grew 4.1% over 2024 in 2025. It maintains a net profit margin of 70.36%, and it has a healthy debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63 right now. It's stable, profitable, and growing, exactly the sort of predictability many of us are looking for these days.

Give VICI a look if you're so inclined. The house always wins, so they say -- and if you can't beat it, consider joining it as a shareholder.

The ram's secretly a bull

Baltimore, Maryland's own T. Rowe Price (NASDAQ: TROW) has been providing financial services to Charm City and beyond since 1937. While it might use a ram as its logo, this stock is a very bullish dividend play, with a 5.67% yield right now.

The dividend is $5.11 per share annually and, like VICI Properties, T. Rowe Price has a fairly low payout ratio of 54.98%. That means it should have no trouble continuing its 40-year dividend increase streak and hitting Dividend King status come its 100th birthday in 2037.

Total revenues for T. Rowe Price came in at $6.39 billion for 2025, up 3.2% over 2024. Its average assets under management hit $1.56 billion, up 7.4% over the same period. The company also runs a net profit margin of 30.19% and has an incredibly healthy balance sheet with a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. That's exactly what I like to see.

It's also the same steady growth and profitability that should make T. Rowe Price a safe haven from this volatile market, should you choose to add it to your portfolio.

Both of these stocks have weathered the stormy seas of this market pretty well, but both of them are down over the past month, just like pretty much everything else. That means their yields have temporarily gone up as their prices have gone down.

You can scoop them both up at a higher yield right now, and that's worth your consideration at the very least. You may even want to look at a dividend reinvestment plan (DRIP) with one or both of these stocks.

James Hires has positions in Vici Properties. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends T. Rowe Price Group. The Motley Fool recommends Vici Properties. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.