Dividend-paying stocks are the perfect option for a busy investor. They are usually reliable, stable stocks you don’t need to worry about. You just buy some shares, set up a dividend reinvestment plan (DRIP), and let your money compound into a passive cash stream over years or even decades.
And there are three dividend stocks on my radar that invesotrs should consider adding to their portfolio: Vici Properties (NYSE: VICI), PepsiCo (NASDAQ: PEP), and T.Rowe Price Group (NASDAQ: TROW).
Image source: Getty Images.
Looking to begin or expand your dividend portfolio? Look no further than these three stocks.
Dividend-paying stocks are the perfect option for a busy investor. They are usually reliable, stable stocks you don’t need to worry about. You just buy some shares, set up a dividend reinvestment plan (DRIP), and let your money compound into a passive cash stream over years or even decades.
And there are three dividend stocks on my radar that invesotrs should consider adding to their portfolio: Vici Properties (VICI +0.26%), PepsiCo (PEP 1.07%), and T.Rowe Price Group (TROW +1.70%).
Image source: Getty Images.
Buy the ticket, take the ride
Up first is the gambling-focused real estate investment trust (REIT) Vici Properties. Honestly, what article about dividend stocks would be complete without a REIT? They’re required to pay out 90% of their taxable income to shareholders in the form of a dividend.
Vici owns 61 casinos (including some of the most iconic spots on the Vegas Strip like Caesar’s Palace and the MGM Grand) and rents them out to casino operators and entertainment companies across the country and one Canadian province. It also owns 39 nongambling entertainment properties and four golf courses.
The company has a 100% occupancy rate, which helped it grow its revenue 3.5% to $1 billion for Q1 2026. Off the back of that, it grew its adjusted funds from operation (AFFO) 5.7%. And it pays 90% of that income back to shareholders in a dividend that yields 6.19% at current prices.
Vici is one bet you’ll likely want to place and let ride for a long time to come.
Vici Properties
Today’s Change
(0.26%) $0.07
Current Price
$28.86
I’ll have a Pepsi, actually
I don’t know where you fall on the eternal Coca-Cola versus Pepsi debate. Full disclosure: My favorite soda is Mexican Coke. But when it comes to what I want in my portfolio versus what I want with my lunch, Pepsi wins hands down.
Pepsi has a 4.1% yield at current prices to Coca-Cola’s 2.79%. Now, Pepsi is the riskier dividend with its payout ratio sitting at 89.3% to Coca-Cola’s 64.78%, but neither of the stocks is particularly risky — especially not after seeing their Q1 2026 results.
For Q1 2026, Pepsi grew its net revenue 8.5% over Q1 2025, and its earnings per share (EPS) shot up 27%. The company also grew its net profit margin from 8.83% at the end of 2025 to 9.21% at the end of Q1 2026.
Now, it must be noted that while both companies have a high debt load. Pepsi’s is much higher than Coca-Cola’s at 2.45 compared to 1.23. However, both stocks are blue chips, and I don’t think they will have problems paying their debts.
So, all other things being relatively equal, I would go for the higher yield of Pepsi’s dividend even though I’ll be ordering a Coke with my sandwich.
PepsiCo
Today’s Change
(-1.07%) $-1.67
Current Price
$154.62
High finance, high yield
Finally, let’s talk about T. Rowe Price, which has been providing financial services to its home city of Baltimore and beyond since 1937. It also pays a dividend that yields 4.9% at current prices, and the company has grown it every year for the past four decades.
If the company keeps that streak alive (and given that its payout ratio is sitting at a nice and low 54.77% right now, I see no reason why it shouldn’t be able to), then it should achieve Dividend King status come its 100th birthday in 2037. Dividend Kings are companies that have increased their payouts for 50 consecutive years or more.
In T. Rowe Price’s most recent reported quarter (Q1 2026), its revenue grew 5.3% over Q1 2025 to $1.85 billion, and its earnings per share for the quarter grew 3.7% over the same period.
It also maintains a net profit margin of 29.53% and a very healthy balance sheet, with a total debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04.
T. Rowe Price Group
Today’s Change
(1.70%) $1.76
Current Price
$105.35
T. Rowe Price offers a steadily growing dividend you really don’t need to worry about. The company’s finances are rock solid and are likely to remain so for the foreseeable future.
Combine all three stocks, and you have the beginnings of a solid dividend portfolio.
