What Is One of the Best Dividend Stocks to Buy With $1,000 Right Now?
Key Points
Verizon's recurring revenue from customer monthly phone bills provides consistent cash flow to fund a reliable dividend.
The company pays out just 58% of free cash flow in dividends, yet offers an attractive 5.8% yield.
New CEO Dan Schulman is focused on higher-margin services, which is good news for dividend investors.
- 10 stocks we like better than Verizon Communications ›
Verizon Communications (NYSE: VZ) has millions of consumers and businesses paying recurring bills for phone plans, internet, and connectivity services. The stock's 5.82% forward dividend yield looks attractive, offering about $58 in annual income on a $1,000 investment. Even better, new leadership is executing a strategy to improve the company's performance, making the stock a potentially timely buy in 2026.
Image source: Getty Images.
Will AI create the world's first trillionaire? Our team just released a report on the one little-known company, called an "Indispensable Monopoly" providing the critical technology Nvidia and Intel both need. Continue »
Verizon posted a solid start to the year. Revenue rose 2.9% year over year, and free cash flow increased 4% to $3.8 billion. The wireless market is intensely competitive, but Verizon is holding its ground. It added 55,000 postpaid phone subscribers and saw growth in internet broadband and fiber.
Verizon has generated growing revenue in recent years. It has 96 million postpaid connections, reflecting the number of people on phone plans. That stability supports steady free cash flow, which totaled nearly $20 billion in 2025. The company paid out 58% of that in dividends, leaving ample room to sustain and increase the quarterly payout.
New CEO Dan Schulman is shifting the sales mix away from lower-margin lines and toward more profitable, recurring-revenue services. The strategy prioritizes increasing lifetime customer value instead of relying on promotions to boost short-term results.
If that approach works, Verizon could remain stable while maintaining steady revenue growth -- and, importantly, generate higher free cash flow and dividends. With those prospects and an already strong yield, it's a solid high-yield stock to consider right now.
Should you buy stock in Verizon Communications right now?
Before you buy stock in Verizon Communications, consider this:
The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the 10 best stocks for investors to buy now… and Verizon Communications wasn’t one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years.
Consider when Netflix made this list on December 17, 2004... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $465,733!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $1,313,467!*
Now, it’s worth noting Stock Advisor’s total average return is 985% — a market-crushing outperformance compared to 211% for the S&P 500. Don't miss the latest top 10 list, available with Stock Advisor, and join an investing community built by individual investors for individual investors.
See the 10 stocks »
*Stock Advisor returns as of May 30, 2026.
John Ballard has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool recommends Verizon Communications. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
Recommended Articles
