The 3 Best Dividend Stocks to Buy Now and Hold Forever

Article highlights dividend opportunities: Verizon is singled out for a high dividend yield and customer stickiness, Target is presented as undervalued despite weak sentiment, and Las Vegas real estate (VICI Properties) is noted for attractive dividends. The piece is promotional for The Motley Fool’s Stock Advisor, citing a historical average return of 898% vs the S&P 500’s 183% (as of Mar 22, 2026) and discloses positions: Travis Hoium holds Verizon; The Motley Fool holds/recommends Target, Verizon, and Vici Properties.

Analysis

Yield-hunting has rotated incremental, lower-conviction capital into telecoms and gaming REITs; that flow amplifies downside when real rates tick up because these names trade more like duration than cyclicals. Verizon’s cash-return story is durable only to the extent its fiber and 5G monetization actually compress churn and lift ARPU over a 3–7 year payback window — if that timeline slips, the dividend becomes the primary return and price sensitivity to the 10‑year real yield will increase materially.

VICI is a classic carry-for-duration trade with an operational hedge: rents tied to gaming economics provide recovery optionality as tourism normalizes, but rising cap rates (even a 75–125bp move) can knock NAV by double digits quickly. Second-order: consolidation among casino operators or a push to renegotiate revenue-share leases would crystallize downside for landlords faster than consumer demand trends would show it.

Target illustrates the asymmetric nature of beaten-down, high-share retailers — inventory discipline and private label can drive margin expansion within 12–24 months, making current multiples a potential entry for patient buyers. On the tech side, NVDA remains the convexity play on AI adoption while INTC is the slow-money exposure; a concentrated allocation to NVDA (or volatility on NVDA) paired with a hedged, tactical short or underweight in INTC captures that dispersion without a naked long-volatility bet.

Key Decisions for Investors

• Buy Verizon (VZ) for income with a 12–36 month horizon: initiate at a 3–4% portfolio sleeve (or 2% absolute weight), use covered calls to enhance yield (sell 3–6 month OTM calls) and buy one protective 6–12 month put (10–15% OTM) to cap a sudden rate-driven drawdown. Risk/reward: dividend yield plus 15–25% total-return upside if 5G/fiber monetization proceeds; max downside limited to ~protective-put strike.
• Overweight VICI Properties (VICI) for a tourism-recovery rebound over 12–24 months: buy shares and hedge interest-rate risk with a small position in short-dated Treasury steepeners or buy cap-rate protection via selling a call spread on REIT ETF exposure. Risk/reward: expect 12–30% NAV upside if Las Vegas visitation and GGR normalize; downside concentrated to a >100bp rise in cap rates.
• Buy Target (TGT) on 12–18 month mean-reversion: accumulate into weakness (phased buys) and fund with a small hedge in discretionary retail exposure; consider a collar (sell 9–12 month calls, buy deeper OTM puts) to lock in yield. Risk/reward: low‑teens upside to fair value if margins recover; watch faster online share gains as the primary reversal risk.
• Express AI-concentration: long NVDA convexity via a 6–9 month call spread (buy ATM call, sell 10–20% OTM call) funded by selling a small notional of INTC calls or simply reducing INTC weight. Risk/reward: capped upside on NVDA spread with a defined premium loss (max loss = net premium) but asymmetric payoff if AI spend accelerates; downside is NVDA re-rating or an orderly pullback in AI capex.