Income investors are always looking for ways to improve their yield without overdoing it on risk.With the biggest returns over the past few years belonging to tech and artificial intelligence (AI) stocks, it'd be easy to forget that dividend stocks still deserve a spot in your portfolio. As investors look forward to 2026, the case for dividend payers is actually improving, and the uptrend may have already begun.Over the past three months, the performance of the Vanguard High Dividend Yield ETF (VYM +0.85%) ...