Is VSHY or BTI a better dividend investment in 2026?

VSHY currently yields 6.56% with a 5% 5-year dividend growth rate. BTI yields 5.38% with 5% growth. The better choice depends on your goal: VSHY offers higher current income.

What is the dividend yield difference between VSHY and BTI?

VSHY has a forward dividend yield of 6.56% ($1.41/share annually). BTI yields 5.38% ($3.15/share annually). The yield gap is 1.18 percentage points.

Home › Compare › VSHY vs BTI

VSHY vs BTI: Dividend Comparison 2026

VSHY yields 6.56% · BTI yields 5.38%● Live data

vsPost on X →

After 10 years · $10,000 invested · DRIP enabled

🏆 BTI wins by $6.8K in total portfolio value· pulled ahead in Year 3

INVESTMENT

TIME HORIZON10 years

VSHY

● Live price

6.56%

Share price

$21.51

Annual div

$1.41

5Y div CAGR

Payout ratio

50%

After 10 yrs · $10,000 · DRIP

Portfolio value

$30.9K

Annual income

$996.46

Full VSHY calculator →

BTI

● Live price

5.38%

Share price

$58.47

Annual div

$3.15

5Y div CAGR

11.3%

Payout ratio

50%

After 10 yrs · $10,000 · DRIP

Portfolio value

$37.7K

Annual income

$2,786.64

Full BTI calculator →

Portfolio growth — VSHY vs BTI

📍 BTI pulled ahead of the other in Year 3

Annual dividend income

🛡️

Recession Test — Did They Cut Dividends?

How each stock treated shareholders during the 3 biggest crises of the last 20 years

Crisis Period	VSHY	BTI
2008–2009 GFC	— No data	— No data
2020 Q1–Q2 COVID	— No data	— No data
2022 Q4 Rate Hike	— No data	— No data

Based on dividend payment history. "Increased" = dividend grew during crisis. "Maintained" = held within 3%. "Cut" = reduced by more than 3%.

📅

Dividend Calendar Overlap

Combined, VSHY + BTI cover 0 of 12 months — good coverage

Jan

—

Feb

—

Mar

—

Apr

—

May

—

Jun

—

Jul

—

Aug

—

Sep

—

Oct

—

Nov

—

Dec

—

VSHY pays

BTI pays

Both pay

Neither

💰

Tax Bracket Optimizer

Which stock is actually better after tax? Adjust your rate to find out.

VSHY

Annual income on $10K today (after 15% tax)

$557.91/yr

After 10yr DRIP, annual income (after tax)

$846.99/yr

BTI

Annual income on $10K today (after 15% tax)

$457.40/yr

After 10yr DRIP, annual income (after tax)

$2,368.64/yr

At 15% tax rate, BTI beats the other by $1,521.65/year in after-tax income after 10 years on $10,000

⚖️

Lazy Portfolio Split Optimizer

What's the optimal mix of VSHY + BTI for your $10,000?

VSHY: 50%BTI: 50%

100% BTI50/50100% VSHY

Portfolio after 10yr

$34.3K

Annual income

$1,891.55/yr

Blended yield

5.52%

📊

Analyst Conviction Gap

Where Wall Street is most bullish on BTI right now

VSHY

No analyst data

BTI

Analyst Ratings

Buy

Hold

Sell

Consensus: Buy

Price Target

$40.00

-31.6% upside vs current

Range: $40.00 — $40.00

Altman Z

2.1

Piotroski

7/9

Analyst ratings via FMP. Altman Z-Score: >3.0 safe, 1.81–3.0 grey zone, <1.81 distress. Piotroski: 7–9 strong, 0–3 weak.

🏛️

Copy Congress — What Are Politicians Buying?

Senate & House STOCK Act disclosures (last 90 days)

VSHY buys

BTI buys

No recent congressional trades found for VSHY or BTI in the last 90 days.

STOCK Act mandates disclosure within 45 days of transaction. Data via FMP.Full tracker →

MetricVSHYBTI

Forward yield	6.56% ✓	5.38%
Annual dividend / share	$1.41	$3.15 ✓
Payout ratio	50%	50%
1-year div growth	0%	0%
5-year div CAGR	0%	11.3% ✓
Portfolio after 10y	$30.9K	$37.7K ✓
Annual income after 10y	$996.46	$2,786.64 ✓
Total dividends collected	$8.3K	$14.3K ✓
Payment frequency	quarterly	quarterly
Sector	Stock	Consumer Staples

Year-by-year: VSHY vs BTI ($10,000, DRIP)

Year	VSHY Portfolio	VSHY Income/yr	BTI Portfolio	BTI Income/yr	Gap
1	$11,356	$656.36	$11,299	$598.92	+$57.00 → VSHY
2	$12,848	$696.62	$12,794	$703.91	+$54.00 → VSHY
3← crossover	$14,484	$736.56	$14,518	$829.07	$34.00 → BTI
4	$16,274	$776.02	$16,513	$978.64	$239.00 → BTI
5	$18,228	$814.88	$18,827	$1,157.84	$599.00 → BTI
6	$20,357	$853.02	$21,518	$1,373.12	$1.2K → BTI
7	$22,672	$890.32	$24,657	$1,632.46	$2.0K → BTI
8	$25,186	$926.71	$28,329	$1,945.74	$3.1K → BTI
9	$27,911	$962.12	$32,637	$2,325.33	$4.7K → BTI
10	$30,861	$996.46	$37,708	$2,786.64	$6.8K → BTI

VSHY vs BTI: Complete Analysis 2026

VSHY — Stock

The Fund actively invests in short term, below-investment grade bonds, seeking to generate both high current income and capital growth. Rigorous credit analysis and a relative value approach, coupled with opportunistic trading, strives to take advantage of mispricings, market dislocations, and other special situations.

Full VSHY Calculator →

BTI — Consumer Staples

British American Tobacco p.l.c. provides tobacco and nicotine products to consumers in the Americas, Europe, the Asia-Pacific, the Middle East, Africa, and the United States. It offers vapour, heated, and modern oral nicotine products; combustible cigarettes; and traditional oral products, such as snus and moist snuff. The company provides its products under the Vuse, glo, Velo, Grizzly, Kodiak, Dunhill, Kent, Lucky Strike, Pall Mall, Rothmans, Newport, Natural American Spirit, and Camel brands. The company distributes its products to retail outlets. British American Tobacco p.l.c. was founded in 1902 and is based in London, the United Kingdom.

Full BTI Calculator →

📬

Get this VSHY vs BTI comparison by email

Save your analysis + weekly dividend insights. Free forever.

More comparisons

VSHY vs SCHD VSHY vs JEPI VSHY vs O VSHY vs KO VSHY vs MAIN

⚠️ Educational purposes only. Not financial advice. Congressional trades sourced from SEC STOCK Act filings via FMP. Past performance does not guarantee future results.