The 7 Highest-Yielding Dividend Kings to Buy Now and Hold Forever

While this company’s products, like Altria’s, may not be for everyone, it has strong demand and has been in business for almost 150 years. Universal Corp. (NYSE: UVV) processes and supplies leaf tobacco and plant-based ingredients worldwide. The company is involved in procuring, financing, processing, packing, storing and shipping leaf tobacco for sale to manufacturers of consumer tobacco products.

The company contracts, purchases, processes and sells flue-cured, burley and oriental tobaccos that are primarily used in the manufacture of cigarettes. Its dark air-cured tobaccos principally are used in the manufacture of cigars, natural wrapped cigars and cigarillos, smokeless and pipe tobacco products. It also provides value-added services, including blending, chemical and physical testing of tobacco; service cutting for various manufacturers; manufacturing reconstituted leaf tobacco; just-in-time inventory management services; electronic nicotine delivery systems; and smoke testing services for customers.

In addition, Universal offers testing services for crop protection agents and tobacco constituents in seed, leaf and finished products, including e-cigarette liquids and vapors. Its analytical services include chemical compound testing in finished tobacco products and mainstream smoke. Further, it provides various value-added manufacturing processes to produce specialty vegetable and fruit-based ingredients for the food and beverage end markets, as well as provides water pipe style leaf tobacco. And it recycles waste materials from tobacco production.

Investors receive a 5.96% dividend. There is a Buy rating listed, but we could not confirm which Wall Street firm has it. We did find that Blackrock owns a stunning 16% of the shares. Over the past year, the stock has traded between $46.24 and $64.13. The shares closed on Friday at $53.06, down almost 10% on the day, but they rallied back some in after-market trading on no news that we could find.

Leggett & Platt

While somewhat off the radar, this stock has almost been cut in half over the past year and offers massive upside potential. Leggett & Platt Inc. (NYSE: LEG) designs, manufactures and markets engineered components and products worldwide.

The company offers steel rods, drawn wires, foam chemicals and additives, innersprings, specialty foams, private label finished mattresses, mattress foundations, wire forms for mattress foundations, adjustable beds, industrial sewing and quilting machines, and mattress packaging and glue drying equipment, as well as machines to produce innersprings for industrial users of steel rods and wires, manufacturers of finished bedding, big box and e-commerce retailers, bedding brands and mattress retailers, department stores and home improvement centers.