5 Top Dividend Payers of the S&P 500

The S&P 500 Index has a miserly yield of just 1.3%. But that's a mixture of companies, with stocks offering no yield offsetting names that have quite attractive yields. Here are five of the best dividend-paying companies in this investment benchmark.

Kinder Morgan (NYSE: KMI) is one of the largest midstream companies in North America, helping to move oil and natural gas from where it is drilled to where it eventually gets used. Its portfolio of pipelines, storage, and processing assets would be virtually impossible to replace. Its business is largely fee-based, as it gets paid based on the use of its system and not on the price of the commodities flowing through it.

The yield is a hefty 6.7% right now. To be fair, the dividend was cut in 2016 after management had previously suggested a dividend increase was in the cards, which may turn off more conservative investors. However, the company has since gotten back on the dividend growth path, and has been careful to ensure it can support its dividend over the long term this time around.

Source Fool.com