Dividend Vision Lists
Best Safety-Adjusted Yield Stocks
Dividend-paying stocks ranked by Safety-Adjusted Yield — each company's dividend yield multiplied by its Distribution Safety Score — so the names offering the most durable income per unit of yield rise to the top, and fragile high-yielders fall away.
Updated September 2026 · 60 companies
DV Scorecard
Our proprietary snapshot of this list — averages and standouts, computed from the companies below. Not investment advice.
Headline yield tells you what a stock pays; it says nothing about whether the payment will last. Safety-Adjusted Yield fixes that by weighting each company's dividend yield by our Distribution Safety Score — so a durable 6% outranks a fragile 12%, and the number rewards income you can actually keep.
This page ranks the dividend-stock universe — including REITs, BDCs, and MLPs — by that single metric, filtered to names yielding at least 4% that also clear a solid Safety Score. It's the stock-side twin of our Safety-Adjusted Yield ETFs list: the same names everyone screens for yield, re-sorted by how durable that yield looks.
How this screen works
One proprietary metric does the ranking: Safety-Adjusted Yield.
- Metric: Safety-Adjusted Yield = dividend yield × (Distribution Safety Score ÷ 100). An 8% yield at a score of 80 scores 6.4%; a 14% yield at a score of 30 scores just 4.2%.
- Universe: dividend-paying stocks, including REITs, BDCs, and MLPs.
- Yield floor: at least 4%, to keep the list income-focused.
- Safety floor: a Distribution Safety Score of 60+, so the ranking showcases durable income rather than gambles.
- Rank: highest Safety-Adjusted Yield first.
Best Safety-Adjusted Yield Stocks
Ranked live from our data pipeline on every build — click any column header to re-sort, or open a ticker for the full analysis. We never hard-code the figures.
| Ticker | Company | Safety-Adj. Yield | Yield | Distribution Safety Score™ ⓘ | Payout ratio |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ETD | Ethan Allen Interiors Inc | 17.3% | 22.47% | 77 | 3% |
| DX | Dynex Capital, Inc | 14.6% | 16.75% | 87 | 60% |
| REFI | Chicago Atlantic Real Estate Finance Inc | 13.3% | 17.08% | 78 | 133% |
| UAN | CVR Partners | 12.7% | 18.16% | 70 | 95% |
| AGNC | AGNC Investment Corp | 12.7% | 14.59% | 87 | 34% |
| SAR | Saratoga Investment Corp. | 12.6% | 17.06% | 74 | 46% |
| DMLP | Dorchester Minerals | 12.5% | 17.09% | 73 | 2% |
| PSBD | Palmer Square Capital BDC Inc. | 11.4% | 15.82% | 72 | 98% |
| BCSF | Bain Capital Specialty Finance Inc | 11.2% | 15.16% | 74 | 80% |
| TRIN | Trinity Capital Inc | 10.7% | 11.59% | 92 | 33% |
| PFLT | PennantPark Floating Rate Capital Ltd. | 10.5% | 14.19% | 74 | 31% |
| TRTX | TPG RE Finance Trust, Inc. | 10.4% | 13.37% | 78 | 105% |
| KRP | Kimbell Royalty Partners | 10.4% | 12.86% | 81 | 2% |
| NLY | Annaly Capital Management, Inc. | 10.4% | 14.25% | 73 | 96% |
| BXSL | Blackstone Secured Lending Fund | 10.4% | 12.38% | 84 | 98% |
| ADAMM | New York Mortgage Trust, Inc. | 10.3% | 10.41% | 99 | 7% |
| OTF | Blue Owl Technology Finance Corp. | 10.3% | 15.11% | 68 | 66% |
| WHF | WhiteHorse Finance, Inc. | 10.2% | 13.66% | 75 | 99% |
| IIPR | Innovative Industrial Properties, Inc. | 10.2% | 13.59% | 75 | 2% |
| SUNS | Sunrise Realty Trust, Inc. | 10.1% | 16.06% | 63 | 120% |
| MSIF | MSC Income Fund, Inc. | 10.1% | 11.58% | 87 | 28% |
| CSWC | Capital Southwest Corporation | 10.0% | 11.34% | 88 | 35% |
| EFC | Ellington Financial Inc | 9.9% | 12.54% | 79 | 22% |
| STWD | Starwood Property Trust | 9.8% | 12.85% | 76 | 125% |
| ADAMZ | Adamas Trust, Inc | 9.7% | 9.95% | 97 | 5% |
| NREF | Nexpoint Real Estate Finance Inc | 9.6% | 12.51% | 77 | 2% |
| NLCP | NewLake Capital Partners, Inc. | 9.6% | 11.44% | 84 | 145% |
| CAPL | CrossAmerica Partners | 9.6% | 9.57% | 100 | 2% |
| BIT | Blackrock Multi Sector Income Closed Fund | 9.4% | 12.89% | 73 | 266% |
| IRS | IRSA Inversiones Y Representaciones | 9.4% | 10.44% | 90 | 43% |
| CHCT | Community Healthcare Trust Inc | 9.1% | 13.00% | 70 | 144% |
| NBXG | Neuberger Berman Next Generation Connectivity Fund Inc | 9.1% | 9.63% | 94 | 31% |
| MFIC | MidCap Financial Investment Corporation | 9.0% | 13.70% | 66 | 85% |
| CRWS | Crown Crafts Inc | 8.8% | 12.55% | 70 | 57% |
| MZDAY | Mazda Motor Corp ADR | 8.8% | 9.53% | 92 | 64% |
| MARUY | Marubeni Corp ADR | 8.7% | 13.18% | 66 | 34% |
| LADR | Ladder Capital Corp Class A | 8.7% | 9.66% | 90 | 108% |
| RITM | Rithm Capital Corp. | 8.7% | 10.55% | 82 | 42% |
| ARCC | Ares Capital Corporation | 8.6% | 9.91% | 87 | 99% |
| BLW | BlackRock Limited Duration Income Trust | 8.6% | 11.19% | 77 | 216% |
| CGBD | Carlyle Secured Lending | 8.6% | 14.05% | 61 | 106% |
| TU | TELUS Corporation | 8.6% | 13.60% | 63 | 2% |
| GLAD | Gladstone Capital Corporation | 8.6% | 9.31% | 92 | 31% |
| FRO | Frontline plc | 8.4% | 12.02% | 70 | 2% |
| ARLP | Alliance Resource Partners | 8.4% | 9.28% | 90 | 95% |
| FGNXP | Fundamental Global Inc. | 8.2% | 8.22% | 100 | 0% |
| OBDC | Blue Owl Capital Corporation | 8.2% | 12.24% | 67 | 73% |
| BHFAL | Brighthouse Financial, Inc. | 8.2% | 10.12% | 81 | 0% |
| OMAB | Grupo Aeroportuario del Centro Norte SAB de CV | 8.2% | 11.50% | 71 | 2% |
| ADAMN | Adamas Trust, Inc | 8.2% | 8.15% | 100 | 6% |
| FLNG | FLEX LNG Ltd. | 8.1% | 9.31% | 87 | 2% |
| RMR | RMR Group Inc | 8.1% | 9.51% | 85 | 3% |
| GNL-PD | Global Net Lease Inc. 7.50% Cum. Redeem. Pfd. Series D | 8.1% | 8.30% | 97 | 0% |
| MBINM | Merchants Bancorp | 8.0% | 8.13% | 99 | 0% |
| HTGC | Hercules Capital, Inc. | 8.0% | 10.70% | 75 | 93% |
| BBDC | Barings BDC, Inc. | 8.0% | 11.90% | 67 | 93% |
| QGEN | Qiagen N.V. | 7.9% | 10.57% | 75 | 114% |
| DKL | Delek Logistics Partners | 7.9% | 7.87% | 100 | 103% |
| WES | Western Midstream Partners LP | 7.9% | 7.87% | 100 | 114% |
| HESM | Hess Midstream LP | 7.9% | 7.86% | 100 | 106% |
Screened and ranked from our own data. Not investment advice.
Frequently asked questions
What is Safety-Adjusted Yield?
It's a stock's dividend yield multiplied by its Distribution Safety Score (out of 100). A durable 8% yield (score 80) scores 6.4%; a shaky 14% yield (score 30) scores just 4.2%. It rewards income that looks likely to last. 60 companies make this list.
Why not just rank by yield?
Because the highest yields are often the least durable — the market prices in the risk of a cut. Safety-Adjusted Yield discounts fragile payouts, so the ranking surfaces the best income you can realistically keep, not just the biggest headline number.
Why do REITs, BDCs, and MLPs dominate the top?
Those structures are required or designed to pay out most of their cash flow, so they naturally clear the 4% yield floor more often than ordinary C-corporations. The Safety Score accounts for structure, so a well-covered REIT payout and a well-covered utility dividend compete on equal footing.
Is this the same formula as the ETF version?
Yes — identical. Safety-Adjusted Yield is always yield × Safety Score ÷ 100, whether the ticker is a fund or a company. Our Safety-Adjusted Yield ETFs list applies it to the income-ETF universe; this page applies it to stocks.
How often is it updated?
Yields and Safety Scores refresh on every build, so the Safety-Adjusted Yield ranking re-computes automatically.
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