The stock market’s rally took a pause in the month of April. Persistently high inflation readings have caused economists to question whether the Federal Reserve can deliver on anticipated interest rate cuts. As if that weren’t enough, geopolitical tensions are rearing their head again, and troubling escalations in the Middle East could lead to higher gas prices or a variety of other economic disruptions.
All this could make it a great time for investors to dial back risk a bit and add some defensive dividend stocks to their portfolios. Not all dividend stocks are created equally, however. Here are 15 leading dividend stocks to buy now with attractive payouts and strong underlying business fundamentals:
| Stock | Dividend yield |
| National Storage Affiliates Trust (ticker: NSA) | 6.4% |
| Tyson Foods Inc. (TSN) | 3.3% |
| United Micro Electronics (UMC) | 7.7% |
| Banco de Chile (BCH) | 7.4% |
| Vail Resorts Inc. (MTN) | 4.2% |
| First American Financial Corp. (FAF) | 3.8% |
| Pfizer Inc. (PFE) | 6.6% |
| Coca-Cola Co. (KO) | 3.3% |
| Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) | 3.4% |
| Prologis Inc. (PLD) | 3.7% |
| Realty Income Corp. (O) | 5.9% |
| Grupo Aeroportuario del Pacifico SAB de CV (PAC) | 5.5% |
| Ecopetrol SA (EC) | 14.0% |
| Verizon Communications Inc. (VZ) | 6.6% |
| Enbridge Inc. (ENB) | 8.0% |
