Top 10 Dow Dividend Stocks

#1: AT&T

Current Dividend Yield: 5.8%
2011 Performance: +3%

One of the biggest stories in 2011 was that AT&T (NYSE:T) tried to leapfrog rival Verizon in the wireless market via a buyout of T-Mobile. But regulators ran interference, and AT&T abandoned its bid. Don’t think that means the biggest dividend payer in the Dow Jones Industrial Average should be cut loose from your portfolio. With a dividend yield of about 6%, this is a heck of an income play. After all, 10-year T-Notes are around 2% — roughly a third of AT&T’s dividend yield. Red-hot growth might not be ahead, but AT&T is a stable company with a great dividend that’s not going anywhere. That’s the kind of investment many investors are impressed with after a volatile 2011.

Jeff Reeves is the editor of InvestorPlace.com. Write him at editor@investorplace.com, follow him on Twitter via @JeffReevesIP and become a fan of InvestorPlace on Facebook. As of this writing, he did not own a position in any of the aforementioned stocks.