Finance
2 No-Brainer Dividend Stocks to Buy for Income This May | The Motley Fool
Many companies pay dividends. However, some dividend stocks are better suited for investors seeking income than others because of the durability of their cash flows and the strength of their financial profiles. Those features enable them to pay attractive dividends that steadily grow, even through more challenging periods.
NextEra Energy (NEE 1.51%) and Realty Income (O -0.47%) are two such dividend stocks. They’ve grown their dividends for 30 straight years, which includes three major economic downturns. That growth should continue in the future, even if we have more economic turbulence. Because of that, they’re no-brainer income stocks to buy this May.
High-powered dividend growth
NextEra Energy has done an amazing job of growing its dividend over the years. The utility has increased its payout for more than 30 straight years. It has grown its dividend at a rather brisk 10% compound annual rate over the past two decades. That’s much faster than the average utility and the S&P 500 (^GSPC 1.47%).
A few factors have contributed to its strong dividend growth. The company’s businesses, a Florida-based electric utility (FPL) and a power generation and transmission platform (NextEra Energy Resources), generate very stable earnings backed by government-regulated rate structures and long-term, fixed-rate contracts. That gives it the stable cash flow to pay a lucrative dividend (nearly 3.5% current yield, compared to less than 1.5% for the S&P 500) and invest in growing its businesses. NextEra also has a strong balance sheet, which gives it additional financial flexibility.
NextEra’s businesses also have built-in growth drivers. Florida’s power demand is rising as the population grows, and sunshine is abundant for producing low-cost solar energy. Meanwhile, demand for renewable energy is surging, driving robust growth opportunities for its energy resources segment.
Given the growing demand for power, especially from renewable sources, NextEra expects to continue growing at a healthy rate (at or near the high end of its 6% to 8% annual guidance range through at least 2027). That growth rate and a lower dividend payout ratio for a utility should support continued dividend growth of around 10% per year through at least next year.
Built to pay a growing dividend
Realty Income has a terrific track record of growing its dividend. The real estate investment trust (REIT) has raised its dividend 130 times since it went public in 1994. It currently has dividend growth streaks of 110 straight quarters and 30 consecutive years. The company has grown its payout at a 4.3% compound annual rate over the past three decades.
The REIT collects very stable rental income. It owns a diversified portfolio of properties (retail, industrial, gaming, and others) across the U.S. and Europe, secured by long-term net leases. Net leases produce very stable cash flow because tenants cover all operating costs, including routine maintenance, real estate taxes, and building insurance.
Realty Income owns properties leased to many of the world’s leading companies, including 7-Eleven, Home Depot, and Walmart. It focuses on leasing properties to tenants in economically resilient industries that are relatively immune to the impacts of e-commerce (91% of its annual base rent).
Realty Income has a low dividend payout ratio for a REIT, which enables it to retain significant excess free cash flow to invest in new income-producing real estate (over $900 million last year). The company also has one of the highest credit ratings in the REIT sector, which gives it additional financial flexibility to acquire income-producing commercial real estate.
The company’s financial flexibility enables it to invest billions of dollars each year into new income-generating properties. That helps support the steady growth in its more than 5.5%-yielding dividend.
No-brainer income stocks
NextEra Energy and Realty Income pay dividends that investors can bank on. The companies generate very steady cash flow, which enables them to pay lucrative dividends and invest in growing their businesses. Those growth investments have helped them to steadily increase their dividends over the past few decades.
With durable businesses and strong balance sheets, they should be able to continue raising their payments in the future. Because of that, investors seeking income can buy them without hesitation this month.
Matt DiLallo has positions in Home Depot, NextEra Energy, and Realty Income. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Home Depot, NextEra Energy, Realty Income, and Walmart. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
Finance
Low-income Chinese girl aces gaokao, inspires live-streamers offering help
A girl from a disadvantaged rural family in central China topped this year’s gaokao, attracting numerous live-streamers eager to finance her education, which she declined.
The home of 18-year-old secondary school graduate Han Yaping in a Henan province village was recently bustling with live-streamers.
This attention came after Han achieved an impressive score of 699 out of 750 in the gaokao, China’s national college entrance exam.
She has received offers from China’s two leading universities, Tsinghua University and Peking University.
Han’s accomplishment is particularly remarkable given her family’s impoverished circumstances.
Her mother suffers from ankylosing spondylitis, an inflammatory arthritis affecting the spine, preventing her from working. Her father, who earns a living through farming and odd jobs, serves as the family’s sole provider. Han also has a younger sister.
Finance
UK financial regulator publishes landmark AI review
The UK’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) published a landmark review on Monday that proposes recommendations to regulate the impact of artificial intelligence (AI) on the financial decisions made by consumers.
The review, titled the Mills Review, anticipates that both consumers and firms will start delegating “more financial decision-making to AI systems,” including for agreements, initiating transactions, and executing decisions “within agreed parameters.” One of the key findings of the review outlined that while AI can help bridge advice gaps and “support growth,” there remain risks “associated with fraud, cyber security, and consumer harm.” Conducting the review, Sheldon Mills highlighted that “AI can also amplify risks: bias, discrimination, exclusion, opaque decision-making (particularly when multiple AI models interact), misleading or hallucinatory advice and erosion of consumer trust.”
The review stated that presently, one in five adults in the UK are “already open to AI making decisions for them,” particularly when decisions feel “complex or high stakes.” It found that roughly 26 percent of the population “trust general-purpose tools such as ChatGPT, Claude or Gemini for financial advice” with little awareness that such platforms provide no “formal routes to recourse” or protections.
Overall, the Mills Review identified four areas that it anticipates will be impacted by AI in the financial sector: “the transformation of firms,” “new consumer journeys,” “a reshaped competition landscape,” and “amplified financial crime and cyber risk.” The FCA projected the shift in how consumers and firms consult AI to take place by 2030.
The Mills Review put forth seven “priority” recommendations to be considered by the FCA Board. It recommended that any transitions to autonomous AI models be monitored and that regulatory frameworks and perimeters be adapted and secured. The review called for the strengthening of “system-wide coordination and oversight,” the scaling up of the FCA’s AI Lab to enable it to support AI models and innovation for agentic finance, and an “AI-enabled agentic supervisory model” to be built and adopted. Finally, it recommended that a trusted “public-interest AI-enabled financial capability service” be developed.
The FCA announced, in the press release, that it will launch an AI “good and poor practice publication” in late 2026.
Finance
Fayette County Public Schools Board of Education approves audit contract, new finance director position
LEXINGTON, Ky. (WKYT) – The Fayette County Public Schools Board of Education approved a one-year audit contract capped at $131,750 plus $225 per hour during a virtual meeting Monday, along with a new finance director job description.
The contract is with Mauldin & Jenkins Certified Public Accountants, an Atlanta-based firm, and covers the 2025-26 fiscal year and the restatement of the 2024-25 fiscal year and ancillary services through FY 2029-2030. The work is set to be completed by Nov. 15.
The board approved the contract in a 5-0 vote.
Audit contract details
Interim Chief Financial Officer Kyna Koch said the cost is already accounted for in the district’s budget.
“And is actually less than we expected given our current situation — we were thrilled with the bid,” Koch said.
Koch said she believes this is Mauldin & Jenkins’ first school district audit in Kentucky, but that the firm works with school districts of more than 100,000 students throughout the Southeast.
“Quite frankly when I spoke to the folks at KDE they were thrilled because we’re running kind of short of auditors who want to do school district audits — so all around I think this was a win-win for everyone,” Koch said.
New finance director position
The board also approved a new job description for the position of Director of Finance. Acting Superintendent Dr. Bill Bradford said the title will replace two associate director positions.
“Which will not only save the school district money but it’s also going to streamline our work and align internal controls to make room for a more efficient unit,” Bradford said.
Koch said the position will be posted as soon as possible following the board’s approval.
Closed session
The board went into closed session for more than an hour to discuss pending investigations that could lead to employee discipline. When the board returned, it took no action and adjourned the meeting.
Copyright 2026 WKYT. All rights reserved.
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