Everyone wants to buy low and sell high. But that’s a lot easier said than done – especially in a bear market. The S&P 500 is down 16.5% year-to-date.

But you don’t need a rising market to make money in stocks. You can also collect dividends.

Instead of trying to catch the stock’s next move up or down, dividend investors can just sit back, relax and let the dividend checks take place.

After all, Warren Buffett once said, “Wall Street makes its money from activity. You’re making money doing nothing.”

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It’s hard to be a buyer of anything in a market where everyone seems to be panic selling. But then again, contrarian is exactly how many investors become successful.

“Be afraid when others are greedy and greedy when others are afraid.”

This is perhaps Buffett’s most famous quote.

With that in mind, here are three companies that are handing oversized dividend checks to investors. Wall Street also sees an advantage in the trio.

ATT

We pay cell phone bills and internet bills every month. If you want to break even, consider collecting dividends from companies that provide these services.

For example, AT&T is one of the largest telecommunications companies in the world. More than 100 million US consumers use its mobile and broadband services. At the same time, the company also provides connectivity and intelligent solutions to nearly all of the Fortune 1000 companies.

And because wireless and Internet services are essential to the modern economy, AT&T generates new business end-to-end.

The company pays a quarterly dividend of 27.75 cents per share, representing an annualized yield of 5.9%.

Frank Louthan, an analyst at Raymond James, has a “Strong Buy” rating and a $24 price target on AT&T. With AT&T shares currently trading at around $18.90 apiece, the price target implies a potential upside of 27%.

Real estate income (O)

Realty Income is a real estate investment fund with a portfolio of more than 11,700 properties under long-term lease.

Its anchor tenants include big names like Walmart, CVS Pharmacy and Walgreens – companies that have survived and thrived through thick and thin.

In fact, the REIT says it charges approximately 43% of its total rent from investment-grade tenants. A diverse, high-quality tenant base enables Realty Income to pay reliable dividends.

Also, while most dividend-paying companies follow a quarterly distribution schedule, Realty Income pays its shareholders monthly.

The stock is currently yielding 4.6%.

Morgan Stanley analyst Ronald Kamdem has an “overweight” rating on real estate revenue and a price target of $74 – about 13% above current levels.

MPLX (MPLX)

MPLX is not a household name like AT&T. But for serious yield hunters, this is a stock that probably shouldn’t be ignored.

Headquartered in Findlay, Ohio, MPLX is a limited partnership formed by Marathon Petroleum to own, operate, develop and acquire midstream power infrastructure assets.

The partnership pays quarterly cash distributions of 77.50 cents per unit. With the shares trading at $33.73, that translates to a great annual dividend yield of 9.2%.

In the third quarter, MPLX generated $1.26 billion in distributable cash flow, providing 1.58x coverage for cash distributions in the quarter.

The stock is also up 12.8% year-to-date, in stark contrast to the S&P 500’s double-digit loss over the same period.

Wells Fargo analyst Michael Blum sees more upside on the horizon. Blum has an “Overweight” rating on the MPLX and a $40 price target, which is approximately 19% up from the stock’s current position.

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