Putting money in savings accounts or GICs earns you interest. Essentially, when you do that, you’re lending money to your bank, which in turn lends your money to someone else at higher interest rates. You can also use a portion of your savings to buy corporate or government bonds to earn higher interest income than savings accounts and GICs. When you do so, you’re essentially lending money to businesses and governments.
If you can take on even more risk, you can potentially build your income stream faster by investing in stocks that offer big dividends.
Here are three high-yield dividend stocks you can consider to increase your income right away.
Artis REIT (TSX:AX.UN) has a diversified portfolio of office (about 53% of its net operating income), retail (about 21%), and industrial assets (about 26%).
Early this month, Artis REIT qualified to trade on the OTCQX Best Market in the U.S., which broadened its investor base and increased its accessibility to capital.
The roughly 13% drop year to date in Artis REIT stock has pushed the yield of the diversified REIT higher to 8.77% at $12.31 per unit as of writing.
Alaris Royalty (TSX:AD) stock has made a strong turnaround of 25% in the last three months. If the company continues to execute, the stock has the potential to trade at the $27 level over a two-year time frame for about 30% upside. Meanwhile, it offers a yield of 7.82% at $20.71 per share as of writing.
Alaris lends money to private businesses in the form of non-voting preferred equity. This allows the companies to remain fully in charge and focus on the long-term goals of their businesses. In return, Alaris gets humongous monthly cash distributions from these businesses. So, it will get a return on its investments immediately without having to rely on an exit event.
AltaGas (TSX:ALA) stock is in the dumps. The stock has declined by about 24% in the last 12 months. At $21.52 per share as of writing, it offers an incredible yield of 10.18%, which may be too scary for investors to take a bite.
Going forward, if the stock is to turn itself around, it needs to prove that it did the right thing by acquiring WGL and selling its non-core assets. Over the next year or so, we shall see how the company executes.
Investor takeaway
By investing in a diversified group of high-yield stocks, such as Artis REIT, Alaris, and AltaGas, you can reduce company-specific risks, while earning a big income stream.
Fool contributor Kay Ng owns shares of Alaris and AltaGas. AltaGas is a recommendation of Stock Advisor Canada. Alaris is a recommendation of Dividend Investor Canada.