Dividend stocks can provide a meaningful path to enhancing your portfolio returns. Investing in businesses with a track record of profitability and favorable cash flows that have the financial foundation to support a continued payout can benefit your portfolio through both share price returns and dividend income.
If you are searching for dividend stocks to double up on right now, here are two names to consider the next time you add to your investment portfolio.
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Costco Wholesale(NASDAQ: COST) has increased its regular quarterly dividend every year for more than two decades and counting. Its current annual regular dividend is $5.20 per share, and the last quarterly payment was $1.30 per share in November 2025. The company is known for periodically paying large, one-off special dividends to return excess cash to shareholders. Previous special dividends included $15 per share in December 2023 and $10 per share in December 2020.
While Costco’s dividend yield is low (less than 1%), this is because its stock price has soared due to its strong business performance through the years and has outpaced its dividend growth. The company habitually prioritizes reinvesting profits and issuing large, infrequent special dividends over consistently high regular payouts. While its regular dividend is modest, its high-margin membership model generates huge cash flow to allow for these sporadic, large cash returns, which significantly boost shareholder value over time, even if the stated yield looks small. Case in point: Costco delivered a total return (including dividends) of nearly 150% over the trailing five-year period.
Costco also maintains a low payout ratio of approximately 27%, so the company continues to retain ample earnings for growth and reinvestment. Unlike traditional retailers, most of Costco’s profitability comes from predictable, high-margin annual membership fees, which reached over $1.3 billion in Q1 fiscal 2026.
This reliable revenue stream allows the company to operate its warehouses on extremely thin margins and pass on these significant savings to its members. This value proposition fosters fierce customer loyalty, with consistently high renewal rates (around 92% in the U.S. and Canada). Even during periods of inflation or economic uncertainty, consumers remain loyal because the bulk purchasing and low prices make the membership a valuable investment that helps them save money.
Costco also maintains a limited, curated product selection (around 4,000 SKUs compared to tens of thousands at other retailers), which provides it with enormous purchasing and negotiating power with suppliers and boosts operational efficiency. Beyond groceries, its services, including gas stations, optical centers, and e-commerce, drive additional traffic and revenue streams that further insulate the company from dependence on any single product category and cater to a wide range of member needs.
For the fiscal year ended Aug. 31, 2025, Costco’s annual revenue reached $275.2 billion, an 8.2% increase from the prior year. Its most recent quarterly revenue (Q1 Fiscal 2026) was $67.31 billion, a similar increase of 8.3% year over year. Net income for fiscal year 2025 was $8.1 billion, up about 10% year over year, and Q1 net income totaled $2 billion, an 11% spike from the year-ago quarter.
AbbVie(NYSE: ABBV) has increased its dividend every year for 54 consecutive years, a track record that places the company as a notable name on the list of income stocks known as Dividend Kings. The stock offers a forward annual dividend of $6.92 per share, which translates to a yield of around 3%, significantly higher than the S&P 500 average yield of 1.1%.
The company has effectively managed the patent cliff of its former top-selling drug Humira with rapid sales growth of newer immunology drugs Skyrizi and Rinvoq. These two drugs are projected to achieve combined sales of over $31 billion by 2027. Skyrizi and Rinvoq are approved for various conditions, including psoriasis, Crohn’s disease, and ulcerative colitis, and are showing strong market share gains. The recent settlement of patent litigation for Rinvoq has extended its U.S. market exclusivity until 2037.
AbbVie’s business is diversified across immunology, neuroscience, oncology, and aesthetics. Its acquisition of ImmunoGen in 2024 was a crucial acquisition for AbbVie because it provided a leading antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) platform to its portfolio. An ADC combines a cancer-targeting antibody with a chemotherapy drug. The acquisition also added the ovarian cancer drug Elahere to AbbVie’s slate of approved therapies, in addition to a strong pipeline of next-generation ADCs for solid tumors and blood cancers. ImmunoGen’s assets were expected to become accretive to AbbVie’s earnings by 2027.
AbbVie’s neuroscience portfolio is the second-largest and fastest-growing segment for the company, which recorded a 20% increase in Q3 2025 revenue. Key growth drivers include Vraylar for bipolar I disorder and major depressive disorder, and migraine treatments Ubrelvy and Qulipta.
As for its pipeline, AbbVie’s new potential Parkinson’s disease treatment tavapadon is one of many in its pipeline that bear close watching. AbbVie recently filed for FDA approval for this novel D1/D5 dopamine receptor agonist, gained through its prior acquisition of Cerevel Therapeutics, which has shown promise as a once-daily oral option for both early and advanced Parkinson’s disease, and has achieved reduction of motor symptoms. The candidate could potentially fill a significant gap in care for the off periods that are common with existing medications.
AbbVie reported worldwide net revenue of $15.8 billion in the third quarter of 2025, a 9.1% increase year over year. Total revenue for the last 12 months ending Sept. 30, 2025, was $59.6 billion. Net income can be volatile due to one-time charges, such as those related to acquisitions. However, the company consistently generates high operating income and cash flow of around $19 billion annually as of 2024.
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Rachel Warren has positions in AbbVie. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends AbbVie and Costco Wholesale. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
