Specialty Retail REIT Cashes In on Dividend Yields

Hello and welcome to Dividend Brief, the 2-times-weekly newsletter focused on dividend investing.

Today, we will look into Home Depot, Caterpillar, and PepsiCo, highlight a few dividend stocks worth watching as well as share companies that are about to pay a dividend in the next few days.

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M&A

As Consumers Pull Back, Home Depot Buys Its Way Into the Builder Economy with $4.3B GMS Buy

Home Depot (NYSE: HD) is buying GMS in a $4.3 billion deal that reinforces the retailer’s push into the contractor and professional construction market.

The acquisition caps a competitive bidding process and marks one of Home Depot’s biggest strategic shifts in years as it repositions for slower consumer demand.

GMS, a major distributor of wallboard, ceilings, and building products, brings a deep network of pro-facing relationships and supply chain scale.

The deal is expected to close early next year and fend off a rival bid from QXO, a Brad Jacobs-backed firm that had been pursuing a hostile takeover.

For long-term shareholders, the move signals a sharper focus on a more resilient revenue stream.

While DIY spending has cooled alongside high mortgage rates and housing turnover, contractors and builders continue to drive demand across commercial and residential segments.

Those evaluating Home Depot’s next phase should see this as a signal: the company is building out a hybrid model, part distributor, part services provider, with tighter control over both upstream supply and downstream customer access.

As the consumer wallet tightens, Home Depot isn’t waiting for a rebound.

It’s moving upstream to where the jobs, materials, and margins already are, locking in relevance for the next housing cycle before it even starts.

HD currently trades at $369 and pays a dividend of $9.20 per share, a yield of 2.50%.

Infrastructure

The Data Center Boom Just Became Caterpillar’s Biggest Business

Caterpillar (NYSE: CAT) is leaning into a new growth engine as data centers surpass construction equipment as the company’s largest business segment.

The shift marks a significant evolution for the industrial heavyweight, which is now ramping up its capacity to power the physical backbone of the AI era.

What began as a supporting role has turned into a strategic priority.

The company is supplying on-site power systems, backup generators, and hybrid microgrids to hyperscale data center operators.

That infrastructure demand has outpaced construction sales, reshaping Caterpillar’s internal revenue mix and long-term focus.

For investors, this is a material transition.

Rather than ride cyclical construction cycles, Caterpillar is positioning itself at the heart of AI infrastructure, a demand stream with longer horizons and greater pricing stability. 

The move also strengthens margins: data center clients need both reliability and scale, giving Caterpillar a recurring foothold in operations, upgrades, and maintenance.

Competitors that built their businesses around construction and mining now face a company realigning for a very different kind of boom.

As capacity expands throughout North America, Caterpillar’s role in energy infrastructure has become central.

CAT currently trades at $404 and pays a dividend of $6.04 per share, a yield of 1.50%.

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Consumer

PepsiCo Ramps Up EV Use to Clean Up Its Supply Chain

PepsiCo (NASDAQ: PEP) is electrifying its UK logistics operations through a new partnership with XPO Logistics, which will deploy battery-powered trucks across PepsiCo’s primary distribution network in England and Wales starting August 1.

Under the agreement, XPO will become PepsiCo’s core third-party carrier in the region, handling transport operations from four major hubs: Leicester, Lutterworth, Coventry, and Warrington.

As part of the rollout, XPO will introduce Mercedes-Benz eActros 600 trucks, transitioning more than 1 million annual road kilometers from diesel to electric.

For investors, this is another data point in PepsiCo’s broader shift from ESG messaging to operational delivery.

Logistics modernization has emerged as a quiet differentiator in the food and beverage sector, particularly in regions where emissions compliance is tightening.

Rather than rely on offset strategies or pilot programs, PepsiCo is integrating low-emission assets directly into daily operations, reducing over 1,200 metric tons of annual CO₂ from its UK transport footprint.

Those evaluating PepsiCo’s long-term cost structure and brand resilience may see this as an early edge.

As governments ramp up pressure on supply chain emissions and carbon disclosures, companies with clean fleet visibility and verified reductions could gain access to lower-cost capital, stronger retail partnerships, and smoother regulatory paths.

PEP currently trades at $134 and pays a dividend of $5.69 per share, a yield of 4.24%.

R increased its dividend payout to 91 cents per share, a 12.3% rise. Its new forward yield is 2.07%.

UNM expanded its dividend payout to 46 cents per share, a 9.5% increase. Its new forward yield is 2.32%. 

ILPT improved its dividend payout to five cents per share, an increase of 400%. Its new forward yield is 4.26%.

SEVN dropped its dividend payout to 28 cents per share, a cut of 20%. Its new dividend yield is 8.84%.

MEI slashed its dividend payout to seven cents per share, a cut of 50%. Its new dividend yield is 3.64%.

VFLO decreased its dividend payout to one cent per share, a cut of 76.9%. Its new dividend yield is 0.61%.

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Everything Else

• Ford’s massive new recall may further dampen the long-standing dividend stock’s weak recent showing.

• Levi Strauss plans to “eat the tariffs,” as it were, and announces better-than-expected sales guidance. 

• Conagra can’t hang, though, as it expects tariffs and inflation to wreck its bottom line over the coming year. 

• The DoJ is giving the go-ahead to T-Mobile’s planned U.S. Cellular deal, boosting the dividend stock’s growth prospects. 

• Wells Fargo plans to divest itself of the ill-fated “reward for rent” program.