5 Dividend Stocks That Pay Out Over $1 Billion a Year

The energy industry had been the darling of income investors before oil prices crashed and took several big-time dividends with it. That said, despite another year of weaker oil prices, the industry still paid out billions of dollars to investors last year. In fact, several companies managed to pay out more than a billion dollars apiece in dividends in 2016. Here's a look at five of those generous payers and what the future has in store for their dividends.

Natural gas pipeline giant Kinder Morgan (NYSE:KMI) paid its investors $1.1 billion last year. Canadian energy infrastructure giant TransCanada (NYSE:TRP) paid out CA$1.4 billion to investors last year, which was 9% higher on a per-share basis than 2015. Oil giant ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP), much like Kinder Morgan, paid less in dividends last year after it slashing its payout amid persistently weak oil prices. That said, it still paid out $1.3 billion to investors in 2016. Unlike ConocoPhillips, Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) didn't need to cut its dividend during the oil market downturn. Instead, it increased its payout again last year, continuing a trend it started in 2002. Overall, the company paid investors $2.3 billion in dividends. Big oil behemoth ExxonMobil (NYSE:XOM) is one of the most shareholder-friendly companies in the world. Last year the company paid out a whopping $12.5 billion in dividends to its investors.

Source: Motley Fool

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