7 Dividend Stocks to Avoid Despite Their Juicy Yields It’s understandable why stocks with high dividend yields may look appealing right now, but there are plenty of dividend stocks to avoid. Many of them are dividend traps, stocks with a high but unsustainable yield. The return isn’t worth the investment at the end of the day. Think of a company that pays out more in dividends than it earns in net income. Or, a company in a cyclical industry, that may have to cut or suspend its dividend in a more challenging economic environment. 7 Retirement Stocks to Buy for a Bear Market Also, this category includes stocks with high yields, yet minimal upside potential. At first glance, a stock yielding high-single or double digits may still look appealing, despite trading sideways for many years. However, on a longer timeframe, such a stock could end up producing suboptimal returns relative to the market. Amongst the high yielders (dividend yield of 5% or higher), these seven should be considered dividend stocks to avoid. ARI Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance $9.76 BGS BG Foods $23.59 CCOI Cogent Communications Holdings $56.95 HCSG Healthcare Services Group $16.18 JOAN Joann $8.70 ORC Orchid Island Capital $2.63 VGR Vector Group Ltd. $10.46 Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance (ARI) Source: Shutterstock A commercial mortgage REIT (or mREIT), Apollo Commercial Real Estate Finance (NYSE: ARI ) has tumbled this year alongside other mREITS as the result of soaring interest rates.