Dividend Income Stocks
A clear starting point for income research.
The Fly High Universe gives you a clear place to begin. We look for established, publicly traded investments built around distributing income, then apply the same six starting standards to every company and fund.
Income distributions are structural
To enter the Fly High Universe, a company or fund must qualify for U.S. federal tax treatment as either a Regulated Investment Company (RIC) or a Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT), and remain subject to the applicable distribution requirements. BDCs, ETFs and CEFs qualify for inclusion only when their tax status meets this requirement.
These structures are generally required to distribute at least 90% of specified taxable income to shareholders in order to maintain their favorable federal tax treatment. This helps keep the Fly High Universe centered on investments designed to pass a substantial share of qualifying income to investors.
Listed in the United States
U.S.-based REITs and U.S.-domiciled investment companies must trade on a major U.S. exchange. This creates a consistent public-market and disclosure framework. Funds may invest internationally, with that exposure identified.
That gives every reader the same starting point: a listed investment with public information, regular pricing and a familiar disclosure framework.
At least 7% distribution yield
We use a 7% minimum to keep the research focused on meaningful current income. It is a starting point for coverage, not evidence that a distribution is sustainable or that an investment is safe.
A 7% yield brings a company into the research conversation. It does not tell us whether the income is supported. That work comes next.
At least $50 million
We use equity market capitalization for BDCs and REITs, and net assets for ETFs and other CEFs. This establishes a minimum scale while retaining smaller income specialists. Size alone does not prove liquidity or stability.
The test removes the very smallest candidates while leaving room for specialized income companies. We still judge liquidity and stability separately.
Three years of public trading
We look for at least three years of continuous public trading. Documented predecessor history may count through conversions or reorganizations. Acquiring an older business does not automatically confer its history. Material strategy changes are identified separately.
Three years gives us a real operating and distribution record to review. A reorganization can carry history forward when the evidence clearly connects the old and new structure.
Income businesses and portfolios
We leave out products built around a single company's stock, along with ETFs designed to produce daily leveraged or inverse returns. Ordinary borrowing by BDCs, REITs and CEFs remains permitted. An individual REIT or BDC is not a single-company exposure product.
The point is to keep the universe focused on investments built to produce income, and to leave out products whose design depends on one stock or daily trading leverage.
Why these boundaries?
They give the Fly High Universe a clear identity. Every investment begins with an income purpose, public-market access, enough scale to research and a trading record we can examine. The strategy test keeps the universe focused on income businesses and investment portfolios. These are practical research choices, not scientific dividing lines between good and bad investments.
How we measure the 7% yield
A yield only helps when we know what payment and price produced it, so we use a dated calculation and record the method.
Current regular distribution
We annualize the current regular payment and divide it by a dated market price. Regularly recurring supplemental payments are included when the payment record supports them, and irregular special payments are left out.
A documented trailing record
We use the preceding 12 months of distributions, adjust for splits, leave out identified irregular specials and account for announced changes. We record the method and price date, and we do not round a result below 7% up.
Cash distributions can include investment income, realized capital gains or return of capital. Distribution yield is not the same as earned-income yield or total return. When information is missing or conflicting, we wait to confirm eligibility until we can verify it.
Tax treatment is not part of our entry test
We are often asked whether the dividends are qualified or non-qualified. One investment can distribute ordinary income, qualified dividends, capital gains and return of capital in the same year, so the tax label does not decide whether it belongs in the Fly High Universe. When we can verify the information, the company profile identifies the annual tax composition, the tax year and whether the figures are final or estimated.
These six standards tell you why a company enters our research universe. They do not establish dividend safety, protect capital or determine whether an investment suits you. You still need to decide whether the dividend appears dependable, whether the capital risks are acceptable and whether the investment fits your needs.
Source definitions: IRS RIC requirements · IRS REIT requirements · IRS investment-income tax guidance
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