4 Dividend Stocks to Hold for the Next 10 Years

Dividend stocks can get overlooked in the market. While companies like those in the "Magnificent Seven" seem to get a lot of attention because of their huge gains in recent years, dividend stocks toil in comparative obscurity.

But they still do the hard work of a successful portfolio, such as providing reliable income or dividend reinvestment opportunities that help you grow your wealth.

There are lots of dividend stocks from which to choose, but if you have a long time horizon, you want companies that are going to continue to provide a consistent dividend and have a strong business model that sets them up for long-term success. If you're looking to build a dividend portfolio for the next decade, I suggest these four names as part of a strong foundation.

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1. Walmart

Walmart (NASDAQ: WMT) is the king of retailers, generating $713.2 billion of sales in 2025, including $190.7 billion in the fourth quarter -- up 5.6% from a year ago. But the number that really stands out is Walmart's e-commerce growth of 24% in the fourth quarter from the previous year.

Walmart currently has more than 10,900 stores in 19 countries, giving it an impressive footprint of discount retail stores that offer everything from groceries to home goods, bedding, toys, and electronics. Its stores also include Sam's Club warehouse-style stores that compete with Costco Wholesale in catering to customers who are willing to pay a membership fee to shop for bulk items.

Walmart stock doesn't have a big dividend yield -- it's only 0.8% -- but the dividend has grown by 30% in the last five years.

Coupled with its 44% increase in stock price over the last 12 months, Walmart is a dividend stock worth holding.

2. American Tower

American Tower (NYSE: AMT) is a real estate investment trust (REIT) that owns communications real estate. Its holdings include more than 150,000 sites, primarily utility towers used by wireless service providers, broadcast media companies, wireless data providers, and government agencies. It also operates nearly a dozen data centers, with plans to construct more.

American Tower's network of data centers and its communications infrastructure is becoming increasingly important during the continued buildout of edge and cloud computing, mobile data services, and 5G technology.

Revenue in the fourth quarter was $2.73 billion, up 7.5% from a year ago. The company also repurchased 2 million shares of stock in the quarter and pays a quarterly dividend with a strong 3.7% yield.

3. Realty Income

Another one of my top picks is Realty Income (NYSE: O), which, like American Towers, is structured as a REIT. Real estate investment trusts are popular with income investors because they are required to pay 90% of their profits as dividends to shareholders.

What sets Realty Income apart, however, is its status as a monthly dividend stock. That's a structure I like because shareholders don't have to wait until the end of the quarter to receive their disbursement, which means they can put it to work in their portfolios even quicker.

Realty Income owns more than 15,500 properties in the U.S. and Europe. And it's highly diversified, with more than 1,700 clients across 92 industries, which shields Realty Income and its shareholders from any market downturn that would threaten a single industry.

Realty Income has paid its monthly dividend for more than 50 years, and it currently has a yield of 5%.

4. Schwab U.S. Dividend Equity ETF

If you're looking to diversify your dividend portfolio, a great way to do it is to look at a dividend exchange-traded fund (ETF). One of the best ones out there is the Schwab U.S. Dividend Equity ETF (NYSEMKT: SCHD), which tracks the Dow Jones US. Dividend 100 Index of high-paying dividend stocks that have a record of consistent payouts. Of the 100 stocks in the fund, the top holdings are stalwarts like Lockheed Martin, ConocoPhillips, Chevron, and Verizon Communications. No stock in the ETF has a weighting of more than 5%, which means investors get some added protection from risk should one company have a bad quarter or two.

The SCHD ETF has an expense ratio of just 0.06%, or $6 annually per $10,000 invested, and has a yield of 3.3%.

Patrick Sanders has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends American Tower, Chevron, Costco Wholesale, Realty Income, and Walmart. The Motley Fool recommends ConocoPhillips, Lockheed Martin, and Verizon Communications. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.