3 High-Yielding Dividend Stocks to Buy, Even If You're Worried About the Market

The article highlights three dividend stocks—AbbVie yielding 3.3%, Chevron yielding 3.8%, and Vici Properties yielding 6.3%—as defensive income ideas that also outperformed the S&P 500 during the 2022 downturn. AbbVie is cited at a 14x forward P/E, Chevron has produced at least $16B in operating profit annually over the past four years, and Vici generated $2.61 in FFO per share versus a $1.80 annual dividend. The piece is largely a bullish stock-picking commentary rather than a market-moving event.

Analysis

The common thread is not “dividend income” but balance-sheet optionality in a slowing-growth regime. ABBV, CVX, and VICI are effectively being screened as cash-compounding assets that can absorb macro stress while still returning capital; that tends to attract the same marginal buyer when rate volatility spikes or recession odds rise. The second-order effect is that these names can outperform not just on absolute yield, but relative to lower-quality dividend payers whose payouts become less credible once refinancing costs reset.

ABBV is the cleanest defensive-growth setup: the market is still underappreciating how much duration risk has already been pulled forward by its patent and portfolio transitions. If execution holds, the stock can re-rate on a combination of multiple expansion and lower perceived earnings volatility, while any disappointment would likely show up first as multiple compression rather than a dividend cut. CVX is less about yield and more about free-cash-flow convexity to commodity tightness; the stock remains a de facto inflation hedge, but it is also exposed to a fast unwind if global growth rolls over or if crude mean-reverts below current incentive levels.

VICI is the most interesting contrarian case because the market often misprices REIT cash flow as bond-proxy cash flow. In reality, its underwriting is tied to operator health and lease durability, so the main risk is not property values but a deterioration in consumer spend or a wider credit event in gaming/entertainment tenants. The current setup suggests the best risk/reward is in owning these names into macro uncertainty, but not blindly: the trade works if the market stays range-bound or weak, and is less compelling if rates or growth re-accelerate sharply.

The broader consensus appears to over-focus on headline yield and under-focus on yield quality and reinvestment power. In this tape, the more durable source of alpha is likely to be total-return compounding from cash flow plus valuation support, not income alone. That argues for preferring these names over high-yield traps and for using any broad market drawdown to add exposure rather than chase momentum after the fact.

Key Decisions for Investors

• Long ABBV on a 3-6 month horizon: buy weakness into any healthcare de-risking as a defensive growth plus value hybrid; target modest multiple expansion with limited downside unless pipeline/execution slips.
• Own CVX as an energy/inflation hedge for the next 1-3 quarters: favorable if crude stays firm, but trim into strength if macro data weaken and oil begins to price in demand destruction.
• Add VICI on pullbacks for a 6-12 month carry trade: attractive if rates stabilize or fall; size smaller than ABBV/CVX because the key risk is tenant credit, not just duration.
• Pair trade: long ABBV / short a low-quality high-yield healthcare or consumer dividend basket over 3-6 months to isolate payout quality versus headline yield.
• If entering CVX, consider selling covered calls 1-2 quarters out to monetize elevated implied volatility and reduce entry cost; downside is if oil spikes and call-away caps upside.