Wall Street left these 8.5% to 16.6% yields for dead. But their next dividend raises may show that these patients have a pulse—and send these prices higher before year-end.
Even better, three of these companies are quarterly dividend hikers. These are companies that have a track record of at least a few years of improving their payouts not once a year, but once a quarter.
What are the red flags to look for when these companies make their next announcements?
1. Hess Midstream LP (HESM)
Distribution Yield: 8.5%
2024 Increase: 10.9% (across four hikes)
Projected Q4 Distribution Announcement: Late October
Hess Midstream LP (NYSE: ) is a master limited partnership (MLP) that owns, operates and develops a number of midstream energy assets, primarily located in the Williston Basin area of North Dakota. Those assets include more than 1,400 miles of and natural gas liquid (NGL) pipelines, 500 million cubic feet per day (MMcf/d) of gas processing capacity, 505,000 barrels per day of terminaling capacity, 590 miles of crude oil gathering pipelines, 330 miles of water gathering pipelines, and more.
Now Chevron (NYSE: ) owns Hess’s 38% stake and has a seat at the table. October’s dividend announcement will be the first test of whether management keeps the quarterly raise streak alive.
What Do Quarterly Increases Look Like?
If they do, it’s a loud signal of confidence—one that locks in more cash for investors at nearly 9%.
2. Delek Logistics Partners LP (DKL)
Distribution Yield: 9.8%
2024 Increase: 5.3% (across four hikes)
Projected Q4 Distribution Announcement: Late October
Delek Logistics Partners LP (NYSE: ) is another midstream MLP, this one tethered to Delek US Energy Inc (NYSE: ). The company boasts 850 miles of crude and product transportation pipelines, a 700-mile crude oil gathering system, gas processing plants, water services, several joint-venture pipeline assets, and more.
Delek has spent years adding assets to make itself a major player in the Permian Basin, including adding H20 Midstream and Gravity Water Midstream, as well as interest in the Wink to Webster pipeline. Cash-flow generation is respectable, and DKL’s willingness to share is commendable. In fact, DKL’s latest hike marked the company’s 50th consecutive quarterly increase to the distribution.
It was awfully small, too.
Again, quarterly raisers are never going to wow us from one dividend to the next, but consider this:
DKL’s Q4 2024 distribution was 5.3% better than its Q4 2023 distribution.
DKL’s Q3 2025 distribution was 2.3% better than its Q3 2024 distribution.
Growth is slowing, but a nifty 9.8% yield buys time.
Plus, Dividend Slowdowns Aren’t Always Forever
But it’s enough to warrant an even closer watch of Delek Logistics’ results in the coming quarters, as well as its next distribution announcement, expected sometime in late October.
3. Cogent Communications (CCOI)
Dividend Yield: 10.6%
2024 Increase: 4.2% (across four hikes)
Projected Q4 Dividend Announcement: Early November
Cogent Communications (NASDAQ: ) (CCOI) is one of the world’s largest internet service providers (ISPs), with roots in the United States, but with branches sprawled out across the world. The company uses more than 124,000 route miles of optical fiber to serve more than 300 major markets in 57 countries.
The 2023 acquisition of T-Mobile US’s (NASDAQ: ) wireline business (formerly Sprint GMG) was expected to jolt the otherwise low-growth company. It did, at least momentarily—and in the form of a one-time payment from T-Mobile for taking the Sprint assets off its hands. But the company spilled deep red ink last year, and it’s expected to do the same this year.
The problems are numerous. Revenues have been on the decline over the past year. Leverage is high. CCOI has burned cash in several quarters over the past two years.
CCOI’s upcoming announcement (likely in early November) is now a must-watch given potential dividend cut risk.
CCOI’s Price Has Largely Tracked Its Dividend
Now to two comeback yielders that just restarted hikes.
There’s no guarantee that they’ll adopt an annual dividend-increase schedule like we see out of garden-variety blue chips. But if they were to make it routine, we would expect that kind of dividend announcement to come in the next few weeks.
4. Redwood Trust (RWT)
Dividend Yield: 12.4%
2024 Increase: 12.5% (across two hikes)
Projected Q4 Dividend Announcement: Mid-December
Redwood Trust (NYSE: ) is a mortgage real estate investment trust (mREIT), which means it deals not in physical real estate, but paper real estate (i.e., mortgages). And rather than provide a breakdown of its current operations, I’ll lay out what it’s pivoting toward, as the company is in the midst of an “accelerated” transition to its core operating strategy.
Redwood is leaning more heavily into its Sequoia correspondent jumbo loan platform (residential mortgages); Aspire, which offers home equity investment options (HEI) and expanded loans; CoreVest, which originates loans on residential investment properties; and Redwood Investments, which is a portfolio of residential housing investments sourced from the Sequoia, Aspire and CoreVest platforms. Meanwhile, it’s moving away from legacy investments, which include multifamily bridge loans and other third-party assets.
Redwood Trust’s dividends have a history of, well, reflecting the times, which is a polite way of saying it’s happy to raise aggressively, but it will also cut mercilessly if needs be. For instance, in mid-2023, it cut its dividend by 30% to 16 cents per share. It then did a couple of step-up raises, to 17 cents in September, then to 18 cents in December.
RWT’s Dividend Roller Coaster Has Some Nasty Dips
Generally speaking, the Federal Reserve’s easing should be a boon for mREITs, including the potential for improving originations in the residential space. And RWT’s move away from those legacy investments might eventually pay off—but for the moment, they’re still providing a significant drag on results and could be a point of uncertainty. Any upward movement on Redwood’s dividend would be a mighty bullish signal about management’s confidence. So RWT’s next dividend announcement, expected in mid-December, is worth watching.
5. Dynex Capital (DX)
Dividend Yield: 16.6%
2024 Increase: 15.5%
Projected Q4 Dividend Announcement: Late October
Dynex Capital (NYSE: ) is another mREIT, this one dealing in agency mortgage-backed securities (MBSs), which are issued by government-sponsored enterprises such as Freddie Mac, Fannie Mae, and Ginnie Mae. They’re generally considered “safer” than non-agency mortgages, but they also generally pay lower rates. Mortgage REITs counter this with a hefty dose of leverage.
Dynex is a simply massive monthly yielder, paying north of 16% right now. But Like Redwood, it’s no stranger to dividend cuts.
DX’s Dividend Was Gutted in the 2010s
Its most recent cut, in 2020, was tame compared to its others—a 13% reduction to 13 cents per share. That’s where it stayed until October 2024, when DX announced a raise to 15 cents; a few months later, it followed up with another raise, this one a 13% improvement to 17 cents per share.
Interest-rate spreads—the difference between the short-term rates they borrow at and the long-term rates from which they generate income—are already wide, and future interest-rate cuts are likely to help Dynex, too. That’s a bullish enough environment that I want to keep my eye on the company’s next dividend announcement, expected sometime in late October.