For people who invest in the stock market for dividend income, AT&T wins with their 5.5% dividend yield.

"A good dividend yield will vary with interest rates and general market conditions, but typically a yield of 4 to 6 percent is considered quite good. A lower yield may not be enough justification for investors to buy a stock just for the dividend income."

These seven companies paid out the most in dividends in the most recent quarter among firms in the U.S. Their yields vary.

Company / Ticker	Recent Price	Dividend Yield	1-Year Return	Most Recent Quarter Div. Payout (bil)	Most Recent Quarter Div. Per Share*
AT&T / T	$37.26	5.5%	30.8%	$3.7	$0.51
Exxon Mobil / XOM	68.91	5.1	-6.4	3.7	0.87
Microsoft / MSFT	151.23	1.3	44.9	3.5	0.46
Apple / AAPL	266.37	1.2	54.8	3.5	0.77
JPMorgan Chase / JPM	131.49	2.8	23.5	3.0	0.90
Johnson & Johnson / JNJ	137.18	2.8	0.5	2.5	0.95
Verizon Communications / VZ	59.38	4.1	4.9	2.5	0.615