With the 30-year Treasury yield at 5.24%, the bar for income investors is high. Yet a simple 3% dividend screen on the Nasdaq-100 still yields eight candidates. However, only one—The Kraft Heinz Company (NASDAQ:KHC)—offers a yield above the long bond, at 6.44%. That premium comes with a heavy price: falling sales, a massive impairment charge, and a dividend frozen since 2019.
Comcast Corporation (NASDAQ:CMCSA) ranks second at 4.98%, barely clearing the 10-year Treasury's 4.78% by about 20 basis points. The remaining six stocks—PepsiCo (NASDAQ:PEP) at 4.30%, Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) at 3.91%, Exelon (NASDAQ:EXC) at 3.85%, Mondelez (NASDAQ:MDLZ) at 3.39%, Xcel Energy (NASDAQ:XEL) at 3.12%, and American Electric Power (NASDAQ:AEP) at 3.05%—all yield less than the government benchmark.
This comparison, frozen at Friday's close due to the Labor Day holiday, uses indicated annual dividends based on the latest quarterly payout multiplied by four, divided by the September 4 closing price. Special dividends are excluded. The 10-year Treasury closed at 4.78%, while the three-month bill yielded 3.91%. A 3% equity yield is therefore a starting point, not a verdict on income quality.
Kraft Heinz: High Yield, Hard Questions
Kraft Heinz closed at $24.85, and its $1.60 annualized dividend produces the screen's only yield above the long bond. Cash coverage looks adequate: first-half free cash flow reached $1.7 billion, with dividends consuming $949 million, or about 56% of that cash. However, the operating trend is concerning. The company reported a 1.3% organic-sales decline in the second quarter, and adjusted operating income fell 18.4%. A $7.4 billion noncash impairment drove a $6.4 billion operating loss.
Management's 2026 adjusted EPS guidance of $2.03 to $2.09 implies the dividend would absorb 77% to 79% of earnings. Current cash generation supports the payment, but the high payout leaves little room for another operating setback.
Comcast: Wider Cushion, But Risks Remain
Comcast's second-place yield rests on much stronger cash coverage. Second-quarter free cash flow was $4.6 billion, with dividend payments using just $1.2 billion, about 26% of that total. However, adjusted EPS fell 16.7%, and the company lost 167,000 domestic residential broadband customers. It also paused share repurchases while working through the NBCUniversal and Sky separation.
At $26.49, the yield premium can disappear in one session. The cushion is thin, and stable broadband cash flow matters more than the extra 20 basis points.
Growth Dividends: Trailing Treasuries
PepsiCo, Paychex, and Mondelez offer a different trade: lower current income but potential earnings growth to close the gap. PepsiCo expects 2% to 4% organic-revenue growth in 2026, with core constant-currency EPS up 4% to 6%. Yet its yield trails the 10-year by 48 basis points.
Paychex earned adjusted EPS of $5.51 in fiscal 2026, while its $4.76 annualized dividend equals 86% of that figure. Fiscal 2027 guidance calls for 5% to 6% revenue growth and 7% to 9% adjusted EPS growth. Mondelez raised its quarterly dividend 4% to $0.52, and expects at least 2% organic-revenue growth with about $3 billion of 2026 free cash flow. Its EPS outlook ranges from flat to 5% growth at constant currencies.
Utilities: Financing Trades
Exelon, Xcel, and AEP look safer on payout ratios, each using roughly 57% to 61% of their 2026 EPS guidance for dividends. But their capital budgets change the analysis. Exelon spent $4.56 billion on first-half capital projects and paid $860 million in dividends, having completed about 86% of planned 2026 debt financing by July 30. Its adjusted EPS guidance remains $2.81 to $2.91.
Xcel held its 2026 ongoing EPS outlook at $4.04 to $4.16, with higher financing costs already offsetting part of the return from new infrastructure. AEP raised operating EPS guidance to $6.25–$6.55, backed by a $78 billion five-year capital plan, targeting 7% to 9% annual operating EPS growth through 2030. That growth can support rising dividends, but it depends on rate approvals, borrowing costs, and timely construction. Today's 3.05% to 3.85% yields do not pay investors to ignore those variables.
Tuesday Changes the Arithmetic
U.S. cash trading resumes Tuesday at 9:30 a.m. EDT, and a price gap will immediately move every yield in this screen. The ranking needs more than a fresh price. Kraft Heinz must turn its cash coverage into steadier volume and profit. Comcast must keep broadband losses from eroding its cushion. Utility shareholders need allowed returns to outrun financing costs.
Until those tests improve, the 3% club is mostly a list of equity risks with income attached. Kraft Heinz pays the largest premium because it asks the hardest operating question.
