5 Highest Yield Dividend Stocks - They May Surprise You! (AGNC, CIM, RSO, NLY, HTS)

Benzinga is on the hunt for high dividend yield stocks, and we've tracked down the top 5! The dividend yield is a financial ratio that shows how much a company pays out in dividends each year relative to its share price. Investors should be cautious of the "dividend trap," where risky stocks hide behind a dividend yield above 10%. Surprisingly, all of the top 5 companies are involved in the real estate or mortgage-backed securities business. American Capital Agency Corp.

is a real estate investment trust (REIT). With an annual dividend of $5.60, and a yield of 19.10%, it's easy to see why American Capital Agency Corp. is number one. AGNC earns income primarily from investing in residential mortgage pass-through securities and collateralized mortgage obligations. Shares are higher by $0.06, to $29.37. Chimera Investment Corporation

is a specialty finance company that invests, either directly or indirectly through its subsidiaries, in residential mortgage-backed securities (

), residential mortgage loans, real estate-related securities and various other asset classes. CIM carries a 17.80% dividend yield, and currently trades at $4.01. Resource Capital Corp.

is a specialty finance company that focuses primarily on commercial real estate and commercial finance. RSO is also a REIT, and pushes a 15.4% yield. Shares are trading up 2.6% today, to $6.65. Annaly Capital Management, Inc.

owns, manages and finances a portfolio of real estate related investment securities, including mortgage pass-through certificates, collateralized mortgage obligations (CMOs), agency callable debentures, and other securities representing interests in the obligations backed by pools of mortgage loans. NLY carries a 15.2% dividend yield, and currently trades at $17.83. Coming in fifth, Hatteras Financial Corp.

is an externally managed mortgage REIT. The stock sits at 14.7% on the dividend yield, and is trading slightly lower this afternoon, to $29.95.