Until the trade war chaos cools off, volatility will remain elevated.
With that, one of the best ways you can keep your portfolio safe while generating passive income is with highly respected dividend stocks that can sustain payouts. Plus, dividend stocks can help smooth out the ride when markets drop.
Here are just a few to consider.
Pepsico (SYM: PEP)
With a yield of 3.81%, Pepsico is a familiar name with a strong, dependable yield.
In fact, PEP has now raised its dividend for the 53rd time since 1965. Most recently, PEP paid out a quarterly dividend of $1.355 per share – a 7% increase year over year – on March 31.
Helping, analysts at RBC just reiterated a sector perform rating on the stock with a target price of $163 per share. We’ll also get a better look at PEP when it releases earnings.
Applied Materials (SYM: AMAT)
With a yield of 1.28%, Applied Materials (AMAT) raised its dividend by 15% to 46 cents per share. Its latest dividend will be paid on June 12 to shareholders of record as of May 22. The company also targets sending more than 80% of its free cash flow back to shareholders.
The company recently boosted its stock buybacks to $10 billion. Its stock was upgraded to a buy rating with a price target of $195 by analysts at Jefferies. President and CEO Gary Dickerson just paid $6.9 billion for 50,000 AMAT shares at an average price of $137.30. The last time he bought the stock was in September 2013 when he picked up 30,000 shares.
AMAT is also technically oversold and is attempting to pivot higher.
Last trading at $143.58, we’d like to see AMAT retest $170 initially.
Toll Brothers (SYM: TOL)
Oversold and starting to pivot higher, Toll Brothers (TOL) also just raised its dividend by 9% to 25 cents per share. That will be paid out on April 25 to shareholders of record as of April 11. It’s also the fifth consecutive year the company raised its dividend. The luxury real estate sector is still in high demand.
Even with higher interest rates, affluent buyers are still buying. “People with the means to buy high-end homes are jumping in now because they feel confident prices will continue to rise,” said David Palmer, a Redfin Premier agent, as quoted by Kiplinger.com. “They’re ready to buy with more optimism and less apprehension. It’s a similar sentiment on the selling side.”
Related Reading: The 2025 trade war just lit the fuse
This is what it looks like when empires fall.
Companies that once looked untouchable are disintegrating—
From the inside out.
Not because of a crash.
Not because of a scandal.
But because the world they were built for…
no longer exists.
The 2025 trade war wasn’t a flare-up.
It was a full-scale rupture of the global economy.
And the fallout is only beginning.
You need to see what’s happening—before it hits harder:
The headlines won’t warn you.
But this video will.
