by Ian Cooper

Every year, one of the best strategies is the Dogs of the Dow. You simply buy a basket of underperformers on the Dow that pay dividends, and sell by the end of the year.

For 2025, here’s how the Dogs are doing with just days to go.

  • Verizon (VZ), which yields 6.85%, started the year at around $38. It’s. now up to $40.
  • Chevron (CVX), which yields 4.54%, ran from about $142 to $150.50.
  • Johnson & Johnson (JNJ), which yields 2.5%, ran from $142 to $207.78.
  • Amgen (AMGN), which yields 3.02%, ran from about $258 to $334.
  • Merck (MRK), which yields 3.19%, ran from about $98 to $106.45.
  • Coca-Cola (KO), which yields 2.91%, jumped from $61 to $70.11 so far.
  • IBM (IBM), which yields 2.21%, ran from about $215 to a $304.56.
  • Cisco (CSCO), which yields 2.1%, ran from about $58 to $78.
  • McDonald’s (MCD), which yields 2.37%, ran from about $293 to $313 so far.
  • Procter & Gamble (PG), which yields 2.93%, fell from about $264 to $144.50.

That’s not bad at all.

Plus, once you factor in the yields for each, the Dogs outperformed the Dow Jones.

As for 2026, while the official list isn’t out just yet, here’s what’s likely to make the list.

  • Verizon (VZ), which yields 6.84%
  • Chevron (CVX), which yields 4.56%
  • Merck (MRK), which yields 3.2%
  • Procter & Gamble (PG), which yields 2.92%
  • Amgen (AMGN), which yields 3.04%
  • Coca-Cola (KO), which yields 2.92%
  • Nike (NKE), which yields 2.72%
  • UnitedHealth (UNH), which yields 2.68%
  • Home Depot (HD), which yields 2.64%
  • Johnson & Johnson (JNJ), which yields 2.51%

Historically, the Dogs of the Dow do very well.

The 2024 Dogs of the Dow did underperform the major indices in 2024. However, with dividends, investors still did well for the year.

The 2023 Dogs of the Dow returned an average of 10.1%, which came in below the 14.4% return on the Dow Jones’ Industrials. Still, with the appreciation in most of the 2023 Dogs coupled with dividends, investors still did well overall.

The 2022 Dogs of the Dow beat the major indices, even in a rough year.

In fact, while the Dogs of the Dow stocks fell 1.6% on the year, once you add in the dividend payouts, the Dogs returned 2% on the year. And while 2% may not sound like a big win, consider that, in 2022, one of the worst years on record since 2008, the NASDAQ lost 33%.  The S&P 500 lost 19%.  The Dow Jones lost about 9%.

In 2021, the Dogs of the Dow returned about 16.3%. While 2020 wasn’t a great year for the Dogs, most other years have done very well.  In 2019, the Dogs were up 20%.  In 2018, they were up about 1%, but still beat the Dow, which fell close to 6%.  In 2017, the dogs were up 19%.  In 2016, they were up 16%.