4 Safe Dividend Stocks Yielding At Least 4%

All too often, yield-starved investors give in to the temptation of high yield dividend stocks. Dividend yields greater than 5% look like an easy way to grab more current income on the surface, but dividend income is just part of the total return equation. If a stock with a 6% dividend yield sees its price cut in half, an investor living off dividends in retirement would have been better off purchasing a lower yielding stock with less business risk and volatility, occasionally selling shares to meet his or her cash flow needs.

With that said, we dug through our database of thousands of dividend stocks to search for companies offering a dividend yield greater than 4% with low stock price volatility, above average dividend safety, and enough dividend growth to protect retirees' purchasing power. These characteristics don't guarantee that these stocks won't decline in price, but it's a good place to start the hunt for income ideas to research on a deeper level: Verizon (NYSE:VZ), Crown Castle International (NYSE:CCI), Consolidated Edison (NYSE:ED) and Darden Restaurants (NYSE:DRI).

Source: Seeking Alpha

Related Articles:
- Free Cash Flow Payout vs. Dividend Payout
- 8 Dividend Stocks With The Right Stuff
- 6 Dividend Stocks Trading at a Double-Digit Discount
- 5 Best U.S. Dividend Growth Stocks
- 5 Low P/E Value-Stocks, Yielding 2% Or Higher