Key Points
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Some stock market sectors significantly impact the S&P 500, whereas others barely make a dent.
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There are plenty of ways to generate passive income across market sectors.
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Investing in companies with very little overlap can help reduce correlation.
The Global Industry Classification Standard assigns each stock into a market sector to make it easier for investors to compare companies to their peers and track broader market movements.
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The system isn’t perfect. For example, Amazon(NASDAQ: AMZN) is in the consumer discretionary sector even though its cloud arm, Amazon Web Services, is its most valuable segment — meaning Amazon is arguably more of a technology company. But overall, the system is useful for achieving portfolio diversification and seeing which sectors are outperforming or underperforming the S&P 500(SNPINDEX: ^GSPC).
Here are the 11 stocks I would choose if I could only buy one dividend stock from each sector for the rest of the year.
Image source: Getty Images.
1. Technology
The technology sector makes up just over a third of the S&P 500 with a 34% weighting. The tech sector includes the three largest companies in the world — Nvidia, Microsoft, and Apple. My top tech stock for the rest of 2025 is Texas Instruments(NASDAQ: TXN).
The company is an industry veteran that makes analog and embedded semiconductors. It’s not a pure artificial intelligence (AI) play. But Texas Instruments is unique in that it has a highly diversified business. The company stands to benefit from the growth of edge AI, which involves AI on a device level rather than in the cloud.
With 21 consecutive years of dividend raises and a 2.7% yield, Texas Instruments stands out as a unique way to invest in tech while generating a sizable amount of passive income.
2. Financials
Financials are the second-largest stock market sector with a 13.8% weight in the S&P 500. Payment processors have wide moats, rock-solid business models, and extremely high margins.
American Express(NYSE: AXP) takes it a step further by acting as both a payment processor and a card issuer. Issuing cards adds risk to the business, but American Express has an excellent track record of managing that risk, as evidenced by its low net write-off rate.
3. Consumer discretionary
The consumer discretionary sector makes up 10.4% of the S&P 500. The sector can be highly cyclical and sensitive to macro data from the broader economy, housing market, interest rates, and more. Starbucks (NASDAQ: SBUX) is my top pick from the sector because the company’s turnaround is going well and the dividend is excellent.
Last August, Starbucks poached Chipotle Mexican Grill CEO Brian Niccol to get Starbucks back on track to consistent international growth. Niccol’s Starbucks hasn’t been perfect, but it’s much more organized and focused on improving customer service.
With 14 consecutive years of boosting the payout and a 2.7% yield, Starbucks stands out as a top consumer discretionary stock for generating passive income.
4. Communications
The communications sector comes in at 9.9% of the S&P 500. Alphabet(NASDAQ: GOOGL)(NASDAQ: GOOG) stands out as a high-conviction pick due to its diverse business model and dirt cheap valuation.
Fears of Al disrupting Google Search are overblown. Google Search continues to grow at an impressive rate. And adoption for Google Gemini, Alphabet’s Chatbot, has been accelerating.
Alphabet announced its first dividend last year, but it only yields 0.4% .
5. Healthcare
Healthcare now only makes up 8.8% of the S&P 500 because the sector has been under pressure due to sell-offs in companies like Eli Lilly(NYSE: LLY).
Eli Lilly is an exciting company in the space because of existing drugs, especially for weight loss and diabetes — as well as its pipeline of drugs in development.
The company passes along capital directly to shareholders through its growing dividend.
6. Industrials
Industrials are right behind healthcare with an 8.6% weighting in the S&P 500. Investors are getting a great value for industrial conglomerate Honeywell International(NASDAQ: HON).
Honeywell is splitting into three separate businesses to unlock value for shareholders. At 24.7 times earnings and with a 2.1% dividend yield, Honeywell is a good buy for folks who believe the company will be more innovative and flexible as three independent entities.
7. Consumer staples
Consumer staples make up 5.2% of the S&P 500. The sector has been struggling due to inflationary pressures on consumers. So it’s best to approach consumer staples with an emphasis on quality.
Procter & Gamble(NYSE: PG) is as quality as it gets, with a 2.7% dividend yield and 69 consecutive years of boosting its payout, strong pricing power, and a diverse lineup of industry-leading products spanning beauty, grooming, healthcare, fabric and home care, and baby, feminine, and family care.
8. Energy
Like consumer staples, the energy sector has been under pressure from relatively low oil prices. There’s also the ongoing risk of the energy transition as oil and gas demand could fall over the coming decades.
Integrated major ExxonMobil(NYSE: XOM) provides a straightforward way to mitigate the sector’s risks. ExxonMobil has a low cost of production, diversified portfolio across upstream, product solutions, and low carbon.
ExxonMobil has 42 consecutive years of increasing its payout and a high yield of 3.7%.
9. Utilities
The utilities sector makes up just 2.5% of the S&P 500. But it’s one of the best sectors for generating reliable passive income.
Southern Company(NYSE: SO) is hovering around an all-time high due to steadily rising demand from residential, commercial, and industrial customers and AI-related tailwinds in Southern Company’s wheelhouse in the Southeastern U.S.
With a yield of 3.1%, Southern Company is a reliable passive income powerhouse that’s worth buying now.
10. Real estate
The real estate sector makes up 2% of the S&P 500. The sector includes companies that own, manage, and develop property, including real estate investment trusts (REITs) that generate income from rental properties.
Mid-America Apartment Communities(NYSE: MAA) is a REIT that specializes in multifamily apartment complexes in the Sun Belt. The company has an excellent track record of maintaining its dividend, which has never decreased over the 30 years that it has been paid. The dividend has increased significantly in recent years, boosting the yield to 4.3%.
11. Materials
The materials sector makes up just 1.8% of the S&P 500. Sherwin-Williams(NYSE: SHW) is the lone materials stock in the Dow Jones Industrial Average, and it’s a perfect representative for the sector.
The company has raised its dividend for 46 consecutive years and consistently repurchases its stock. The company does much more than residential paint, including a thriving industrial and commercial business that includes paint and coatings for industrial wood, marine, automotive, and more. It operates its own stores and works with retailers like Lowe’s and Walmart.
Sherwin-Williams only yields 0.9%, but that’s due to the stock’s strong long-term performance rather than a lack of commitment to growing the dividend.
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American Express is an advertising partner of Motley Fool Money. Daniel Foelber has positions in Chipotle Mexican Grill, Nvidia, Procter & Gamble, and Starbucks. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, Chipotle Mexican Grill, Home Depot, Mastercard, Microsoft, Mid-America Apartment Communities, Nvidia, Starbucks, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing, Texas Instruments, Visa, and Walmart. The Motley Fool recommends Broadcom, Lowe’s Companies, Sherwin-Williams, and UnitedHealth Group and recommends the following options: long January 2026 $395 calls on Microsoft, short January 2026 $405 calls on Microsoft, and short September 2025 $60 calls on Chipotle Mexican Grill. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.