Read more on financial mistakes to avoid significant performance costs. Click to see the hard lessons that resulted in a better investing strategy.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ) is an elite dividend stock. The healthcare giant has increased its dividend payment for 62 years in a row. The iconic healthcare company backs its high-yielding payout with a very healthy financial profile.

The same is true for stocks. Consider that global icon Apple Inc. (ticker: AAPL) yields a mere 0.4%, despite having roughly $100 billion in net income and one of the most entrenched brands in the planet. That's because it's easy to maintain a nominal dividend, but much harder to drive a huge yield – even for titans like Apple.

Many dividend stocks lost their luster in 2022 and 2023 as rising interest rates drove jittery investors toward safer CDs, Treasury bills, and other fixed-income investments. However, many of those high-yielding dividend stocks stabilized in 2024 as the Federal Reserve finally implemented three interest rate cuts.

What would it take to make over $3,000 this year with only barely lifting a finger? My answer is having $50,000 and spending five minutes or so using an online brokerage. Could it really be that easy?

These five smaller-cap companies pay ultra-high-yield dividends and could offer patient investors enormous returns for 2025 and beyond.

British American Tobacco (NYSE: BTI), commonly known as BAT, exemplifies this dynamic. Over the prior 10 years, BAT shares have significantly underperformed both the broader market and many of its tobacco industry peers.