Top 10 High-Yield Dividend Stocks

Due to the recent severe market selloff, many investors are looking for stability with high-yield stocks that continue to raise dividends despite all of the concerns over the subprime mortgage crisis and the higher costs in the corporate lending markets.

The highest-yielding stock on Stockpickr's list of Top-Yielding Stocks With Raised Dividends is Reynolds American(RAI Quote), which yields 5.5% and just increased its quarterly dividend by 13% to 85 cents a share. This cigarette manufacturer has suffered during the last couple of months due to concerns about higher tobacco taxes and more regulations, in addition to second-quarter earnings falling below Wall Street expectations.

The drop in the price of the stock has obviously increased the stock's yield. However, the stock has more positives than just a high yield. It offers a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.7, which is below the industry average. The company has an operating margin of 26.3% and a return on equity of 16.2%.

Reynolds also makes the list of High-Yield Tobacco Stocks, a Stockpickr portfolio that lists the major tobacco companies that pay a dividend of more than 2%. Another company that shows up in this portfolio is Vector Group(VGR Quote), which pays a yield of 7.4%. Vector has a highly favorable P/E/growth, or PEG, ratio of 1.8, and its latest quarterly earnings showed a 131% year-over-year increase. The company is also a favorite of Jim Cramer and Carl Icahn, who owns 20% of the company. ...