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 July 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| TK | Teekay Corporation | 21.9% | 35.30% | 62 | 4% |
| OXSQ | Oxford Square Capital | 18.9% | 28.57% | 66 | 3% |
| CMBT | Cmb.Tech NV | 15.4% | 23.74% | 65 | 2% |
| EARN | Ellington Residential Mortgage | 15.0% | 22.12% | 68 | 40% |
| DX | Dynex Capital, Inc | 14.3% | 15.55% | 92 | 68% |
| REFI | Chicago Atlantic Real Estate Finance Inc | 13.2% | 18.11% | 73 | 125% |
| AGNC | AGNC Investment Corp | 13.2% | 13.19% | 100 | 35% |
| HSHP | Himalaya Shipping Ltd. | 12.9% | 17.93% | 72 | 104% |
| NMFC | New Mountain Finance | 12.4% | 18.23% | 68 | 3% |
| ARR | ARMOUR Residential REIT, Inc | 12.3% | 17.56% | 70 | 56% |
| LFT | Lument Finance Trust Inc | 12.2% | 19.04% | 64 | 260% |
| SAR | Saratoga Investment Corp. | 12.1% | 15.37% | 79 | 46% |
| PFLT | PennantPark Floating Rate Capital Ltd. | 12.0% | 15.61% | 77 | 35% |
| ORC | Orchid Island Capital, Inc | 11.9% | 17.78% | 67 | 98% |
| SUNS | Sunrise Realty Trust, Inc. | 11.9% | 14.83% | 80 | 118% |
| BCSF | Bain Capital Specialty Finance Inc | 11.3% | 13.27% | 85 | 80% |
| IIPR | Innovative Industrial Properties, Inc. | 11.1% | 11.81% | 94 | 2% |
| STWD | Starwood Property Trust | 11.0% | 11.57% | 95 | 119% |
| NLCP | NewLake Capital Partners, Inc. | 11.0% | 11.10% | 99 | 138% |
| TRTX | TPG RE Finance Trust, Inc. | 10.9% | 11.06% | 99 | 98% |
| XYF | X Financial Class A | 10.9% | 11.81% | 92 | 4% |
| ADAMM | New York Mortgage Trust, Inc. | 10.5% | 10.62% | 99 | 8% |
| EFC | Ellington Financial Inc | 10.5% | 11.63% | 90 | 26% |
| PSBD | Palmer Square Capital BDC Inc. | 10.4% | 16.56% | 63 | 99% |
| MFIC | MidCap Financial Investment Corporation | 10.3% | 14.36% | 72 | 90% |
| WU | The Western Union Company | 10.3% | 11.10% | 93 | 61% |
| PMT | PennyMac Mortgage Investment Trust | 10.3% | 16.33% | 63 | 139% |
| ZIM | ZIM Integrated Shipping Services Ltd. | 10.2% | 16.25% | 63 | 13% |
| BLW | BlackRock Limited Duration Income Trust | 10.1% | 10.68% | 95 | 74% |
| WHF | WhiteHorse Finance, Inc. | 10.0% | 15.65% | 64 | 74% |
| CRWS | Crown Crafts Inc | 10.0% | 10.63% | 94 | 2% |
| ARI | Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance, Inc. | 10.0% | 14.64% | 68 | 8% |
| AOMR | Angel Oak Mortgage Inc | 9.8% | 14.46% | 68 | 133% |
| CHCT | Community Healthcare Trust Inc | 9.8% | 10.20% | 96 | 12% |
| BIT | Blackrock Multi Sector Income Closed Fund | 9.8% | 12.04% | 81 | 138% |
| CAPL | CrossAmerica Partners | 9.6% | 9.55% | 100 | 2% |
| HZNFF | Horizon Oil Limited | 9.5% | 13.33% | 71 | 396% |
| UAN | CVR Partners | 9.4% | 13.09% | 72 | 107% |
| HTGC | Hercules Capital, Inc. | 9.4% | 11.71% | 80 | 96% |
| MCI | Barings Corporate Investors | 9.2% | 9.60% | 96 | 2% |
| ADAMZ | Adamas Trust, Inc | 9.2% | 9.38% | 98 | 5% |
| LIEN | Chicago Atlantic BDC, Inc. | 9.2% | 14.09% | 65 | 87% |
| FBRT | Franklin BSP Realty Trust Inc | 9.1% | 14.07% | 65 | 2% |
| BHFAL | Brighthouse Financial, Inc. | 9.1% | 9.84% | 92 | 0% |
| CSWC | Capital Southwest Corporation | 9.0% | 9.71% | 93 | 35% |
| VLT | Invesco High Income Trust II | 9.0% | 10.67% | 84 | 105% |
| NREF | Nexpoint Real Estate Finance Inc | 9.0% | 11.95% | 75 | 90% |
| NBXG | Neuberger Berman Next Generation Connectivity Fund Inc | 8.9% | 9.31% | 96 | 31% |
| FSUMF | Fortescue Metals Group Ltd | 8.9% | 11.24% | 79 | 2% |
| CLPR | Clipper Realty Inc | 8.9% | 13.24% | 67 | 0% |
| RITM | Rithm Capital Corp. | 8.9% | 10.93% | 81 | 43% |
| ARCC | Ares Capital Corporation | 8.7% | 10.12% | 86 | 97% |
| RMR | RMR Group Inc | 8.6% | 8.85% | 97 | 2% |
| BBDC | Barings BDC, Inc. | 8.6% | 12.40% | 69 | 97% |
| FDUS | Fidus Investment Corporation | 8.5% | 11.09% | 77 | 100% |
| SLRC | SLR Investment | 8.4% | 12.40% | 68 | 101% |
| TRIN | Trinity Capital Inc | 8.4% | 11.38% | 74 | 32% |
| PDPA | Pearl Diver Credit Company Inc. | 8.4% | 8.64% | 97 | 0% |
| ADAMN | Adamas Trust, Inc | 8.4% | 8.36% | 100 | 6% |
| KRP | Kimbell Royalty Partners | 8.3% | 9.94% | 84 | 2% |
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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