If you want to add some nontraditional sectors to your income portfolio, then consider financials and telecoms, said Howard Silverblatt, a senior index analyst for S&P Indices.  He pointed out that about 235 S&P 500 companies have increased their dividends this year, and financials have accounted for nearly 60 of those increases. While the sector's average yield is just 1.91 percent, these companies—which used to be better dividend payers—could start increasing their payouts as the economy improves.  At one time, the financial industry accounted for about 30 percent of the dividends that were paid by S&P 500 companies. That's down to 14.3 percent today. While Silverblatt doesn't think it'll get to where it used to be, there is still some room to grow.  Technology is also seeing good dividend growth. It only accounts for about 15 percent of all dividends paid, and it has an average 1.45 percent yield, but it accounts for the highest amount of dividends paid on a dollar basis.  In total, S&P 500 companies are paying out about $350 billion in dividends, and telecom pays $52 billion of that, said Silverblatt, adding that 45 of the 65 tech companies on the index pay a dividend.  Still, the sector can be a tricky one for dividend investors, since it's loaded with high-growth operations that pay a modest income. Atkinson prefers more mature tech names, such as Intel and Microsoft, which pays 2.67 percent and 2.6 percent yields, respectively.  "These are great dividend income–paying technology companies within a sector that is broadly difficult to get the diversity of income," he said.  While these businesses won't grow as fast as some non-dividend paying technology companies, such as Facebook or Twitter, they do have a history of upping their dividends, which in many cases can be even better for investors than unpredictable capital gains.
Looking for more yield from stock investments? Look for companies in a host of industries—from utilities to telecom—that are not overvalued.