Three Famous Dividend All-Stars

1. Verizon (VZ) has a yield of 6.5%. It may end up selling the iPhone, but investors are facing the chance that some of the company's cash will go to pay a special dividend to its wireless partner Vodafone. Its FiOS home TV and broadband base is not growing as fast as analysts would like, but that gives this stock an extra layer of potential. This high-yield dividend stock could wind up a good value play based on its current PE ratio of about 12 -- and its good income stream is the icing on the cake.

2. Altria (MO) is the domestic half of the old Philip Morris, the marketer of Marlboro. The company has a 7% yield. The number of smokers is falling. There is a temptation for states to raise tobacco taxes to increase income eroded by the recession, and the federal government is increasing its regulation of the industry. But on the plus side, there are very few tobacco companies in the U.S., so Altria has little competition. Altria is still a cash machine and is a strong dividend investment.

3. Eli Lilly (LLY), one of the largest pharmaceutical companies in the U.S. It has a 5.7% dividend yield. Big pharma stocks are under pressure as their drugs go off-patent and face generic competition. The R&D to replace those drugs can cost billions, so Lilly may need a good chunk of change to keep its business running. However, this dividend investment fallback has shown no sign of slashing its payout anytime in the near future. That gives you a great reason to trust in Eli Lilly. LLY could also wind up being a good value play based on its current PE ratio of less than 9.

These are just three famous blue chips that are also high-yield dividend stocks. So next time you're out doing the shopping or paying the bills, take notice. You could be looking at your next great income investment.

As of this writing, Jeff Reeves did not own a position in any of the stocks named here.