Six High-Yield Stocks You've Never Heard Of

As with any metric, looking only at dividend yield can be misleading. Dividends come from cash and in order to pay those dividends the company must generate earnings. Even more obvious is that as a stock price declines, the dividend yield increases. If the other fundamentals are not solid, buying a stock with a high dividend yield could be a trap.

The following stocks pay dividends with a yield of more than 6% and hold up to fundamental analysis. Some are more speculative than others, and they come from a variety of industries. These stocks feature better returns than you can get in the bond market, offer yields that the LIBOR can't touch and have limited downside risk.

Chances are good that you have never heard of most of these stocks. If you do a Google search on them, you probably won't find them mentioned in more than a handful of articles. Consider them when you look to protect your capital in a potentially stagnant or downside market. But remember: Yields of 6% and higher aren't free. If you want a lifeboat, stick with the stalwarts.

Atlas Pipeline Partners(APL Quote) owns and operates natural gas pipelines, processing plants, treatment facilities and gathering systems. Citigroup recently lowered its estimates for 2008 distributions to $3.80 per unit, the low end of management's guidance.

In July Atlas acquired control of Anadarko Petroleum's(APC Quote) natural gas gathering systems and processing plants in Oklahoma and Texas. While there have been integration issues with these newly acquired assets, I believe those risks are balanced by its current valuation. APL recently reported record EBIDTA of $66.4 million and the integration of the newly acquired assets appears to be progressing well.

(FEAFX Quote)First Eagle Fund of America, a deep value mutual fund, owns 2.1% of the outstanding shares. Lehman Brothers is the largest institutional owner, holding over 20% of outstanding shares. Atlas Pipeline currently sports a 7.9% dividend yield.