The 3 Highest-yielding Dividend Kings In April
By Reuben Gregg Brewer – Apr 12, 2026 at 10:15AM EST
Key Points
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Altria is a cigarette maker using its dominant Marlboro brand to support a growing dividend despite industry headwinds.
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Universal Corporation describes itself as an agribusiness, but what it sells is tobacco.
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Kimberly-Clark is a consumer products company looking to expand its business through a big acquisition.
On the negative side, cigarette demand in the company’s core North American market is in steady decline. On the positive side, Altria has been able to raise prices because smokers aren’t particularly price-sensitive. That has allowed the company, which owns the industry-leading Marlboro brand, to steadily increase its dividend despite falling demand. The cash flows it generates are so robust that management has also been able to experiment with new products it hopes will someday replace cigarettes.
There have been some big missteps in that effort, resulting in billion-dollar write-offs. However, the dividend’s resilience shows how reliable the company’s business is over time. Still, Altria is only appropriate for more aggressive investors given the headwinds in its most important business.
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NYSE: MO
Altria Group
Today’s Change
(-0.21%) $-0.14
Current Price
$67.32
Key Data Points
Market Cap
$113B
Day’s Range
$66.90 – $67.92
52wk Range
$54.70 – $70.51
Volume
447K
Avg Vol
10M
Gross Margin
75.86%
Dividend Yield
6.23%
2. Universal Corporation sells tobacco, not cigarettes
Universal is another tobacco company and offers an impressive 6.1% dividend yield. However, there are two important differences here relative to Altria. For starters, Universal operates on a global scale while Altria does not. Second, Universal doesn’t sell cigarettes; it sells tobacco to companies that make cigarettes and other smokable products. With demand for cigarettes still fairly strong outside of North America, its business is probably better positioned than Altria right now.
That said, Universal is a sin stock. If that’s not OK with you, then you shouldn’t own it, no matter how high its yield is. It is also important to note that tobacco is a commodity, so the company’s revenue and earnings can be a bit volatile from year to year. While most investors will probably want to avoid Universal, it could be a good fit if you are considering Altria but are worried about declining cigarette demand in North America.
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NYSE: UVV
Universal
Today’s Change
(-0.24%) $-0.13
Current Price
$53.43
Key Data Points
Market Cap
$1.3B
Day’s Range
$53.12 – $53.54
52wk Range
$49.96 – $67.33
Volume
165K
Avg Vol
207K
Gross Margin
18.09%
Dividend Yield
6.12%
3. Kimberly Clark is making a big change
Kimberly Clark is a large consumer staples company that makes paper products toilet paper. People buy the company’s products in both good economies and bad ones, so its business is extremely resilient to economic and market adversity. That’s how it has increased its dividend annually for over 50 years. But paper products aren’t particularly growth-oriented in the consumer products space.
This is why Kimberly Clark has agreed to buy Kenvue (KVUE 0.46%), which makes healthcare and personal care products. Kenvue owns iconic brands Tylenol, Band-Aid, and Listerine. Assuming the deal is consummated as planned, Kimberly Clark will become a more growth-oriented business and compete more directly with peer Procter & Gamble (PG 1.02%), one of the world’s largest consumer staples companies. It is an expensive acquisition, and there are material integration risks to consider, which is part of the reason why Kimberly Clark’s yield is 5.2%.
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NASDAQ: KMB
Kimberly-Clark
Today’s Change
(-0.69%) $-0.68
Current Price
$97.28
Key Data Points
Market Cap
$32B
Day’s Range
$96.94 – $98.67
52wk Range
$92.42 – $144.31
Volume
3.3M
Avg Vol
5.7M
Gross Margin
35.67%
Dividend Yield
5.20%
More aggressive investors willing to take on higher risk, however, could find that Kimberly Clark’s business transformation is a winning move for the company. Just go in with a long-term view of this investment, since it could be a few years before the acquisition really starts to pay off.
Three maybes from the Dividend Kings list
Riskier investments often have high yields, and that’s exactly what investors will find with Altria, Universal, and Kimberly Clark. They are all Dividend Kings, and that may be enough for you to be willing to accept the business risks inherent to each stock. However, conservative investors will probably be better off avoiding all three, no matter how tempting their lofty dividend yields are today.
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About the Author
Reuben Gregg Brewer is a contributing Motley Fool stock market analyst covering energy, utilities, REITs, and consumer staples. He is the former director of research at Value Line Publishing, where he rose from mutual fund analyst to equity analyst before leading all research operations. Reuben holds a bachelor’s degree in psychology from SUNY Purchase, a master’s in social work from Columbia University, and an MBA from Regis University. He has been featured as a financial expert on CNBC and in the Financial Times, Barron’s, and InvestmentNews.
Stocks Mentioned
Altria Group
NYSE: MO
$67.38
(-0.12%)-$0.08
S&P 500 Index
SNPINDEX: ^GSPC
$6,816.89
(-0.11%)-$7.77
Kimberly-Clark
NASDAQ: KMB
$97.28
(-0.69%)-$0.68
Universal
NYSE: UVV
$53.43
(-0.24%)-$0.13
*Average returns of all recommendations since inception. Cost basis and return based on previous market day close.
Sumber Artikel:
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