Top Wall Street analysts pick these 3 dividend stocks for higher returns (2024)

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Macroeconomic woes and geopolitical tensions have been weighing on investor sentiment, shaking up the major averages in the past week.

Investors seeking stability may want to turn to dividend-paying stocks.

They can follow the recommendations of Wall Street analysts, who conduct a thorough analysis of the financials of the dividend-paying companies and assess their ability to grow their dividends over the long term.

Here are three attractivedividend stocks, according toWall Street's top expertson TipRanks, a platform that ranks analysts based on their past performance.

Enterprise Products Partners

This week's first dividend stock is Enterprise Products Partners (EPD), a midstream energy services provider. The limited partnership has increased its cash distribution for 25 consecutive years at a compound annual growth rate of 7%.

On April 5, Enterprise Products announced a quarterly cash distribution of $0.515 per unit, payable on May 14. This payment reflects an increase of 5.1% year over year. EPD stock offers an attractive dividend yield of 7.1%.

Following the company's investor update call held earlier this month, RBC Capital analyst Elvira Scotto reiterated a buy rating on EPD stock with a price target of $35. The analyst said that the call supported her view that the company is well-positioned to gain from its organic growth projects, which are expected to come online through 2026.

Scotto added that the company's organic projects (like the Mentone West 2 natural gas processing plant in the Delaware) are mainly focused on the Permian Basin, where it expects consistent growth for at least another 10 years.

The analyst is confident about EPD's ability to support its growth investments, thanks to a strong operations base and balance sheet. Further, she expects mid-single-digit growth in the company's distributions.

"EPD remains comfortable returning 55-60% of its adjusted CFO (cash flow from operation) to investors through distributions and buybacks," said Scotto.

Scotto ranks No. 84 among more than 8,700 analysts tracked by TipRanks. Her ratings have been profitable 64% of the time, with each delivering an average return of 17.8%. (See EPD Technical Analysis on TipRanks)

Goldman Sachs

Let's move to Goldman Sachs (GS), one of the leading investment banks in the U.S. The bank recently reported better-than-anticipated first-quarter results, driven by a rise in trading and investment banking revenue. A rebound in capital market activities helped it deliver solid performance.

In the first quarter, Goldman Sachs returned $2.43 billion of capital to shareholders through share repurchases worth $1.5 billion and dividends of $929 million. The bank declared a dividend of $2.75 per share, payable on June 27. GS stock offers a dividend yield of 2.7%

In reaction to the impressive Q1 print, Argus analyst Stephen Biggar upgraded his rating for Goldman Sachs to buy from hold with a price target of $465, saying that the results "demonstrated the considerable strengths of the Goldman franchise during an investment banking upturn."

While there were some appearances of false rebounds in the investment banking space in 2023, the analyst thinks that the current recovery appears to have the power to persist. His optimism is supported by the encouraging sequential improvement in the equity and debt underwriting business. He is further encouraged by the high-teens year-over-year growth in industrywide announced M&A deal value in the first quarter.

Biggar expects these factors to drive improved revenues in the second half of 2024. He highlighted data from the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association, which indicates a triple-digit year-over-year increase in capital formation in Q1 2024. Notably, the value of IPO issuance jumped 239%, while secondary issuance surged 110% in the first quarter.

Biggar ranks No. 603 among more than 8,700 analysts tracked by TipRanks. His ratings have been profitable 60% of the time, with each delivering an average return of 11.8%. (See Goldman Sachs Stock Buybacks on TipRanks)

Cisco Systems

Finally, let's look at Cisco Systems (CSCO), a networking equipment maker. In the second quarter of fiscal 2024, the company returned a total of $2.8 billion to stockholders through share repurchases and dividends of 39 cents per share.

Cisco announced a roughly 3% increase in its dividend to 40 cents per share, beginning the payment in April 2024. The stock has a dividend yield of 3.3%.

On April 15, Bank of America Securities analyst Tal Liani upgraded Cisco Systems to buy from hold and increased the price target to $60 from $55, citing valuation and three catalysts: AI-related tailwinds, growth in the security business and synergies from the recently completed Splunk acquisition.

"We expect Networking to start normalizing and see renewed growth driven by Cisco's share gains in Ethernet-based AI buildouts of hyperscalers," said Liani.

While the analyst agrees that the next two quarters may continue to be under pressure, he contends that this downtrend is fully reflected in Wall Street's expectations. He thinks that management's guidance is adequately conservative.

Meanwhile, Liani expects the company's security business growth to accelerate, driven by stabilization in the firewall space and its recently launched products.

Liani holds the 532nd position among more than 8,700 analysts tracked by TipRanks. His ratings have been successful 55% of the time, with each delivering an average return of 10.9%. (See Cisco Ownership Structure on TipRanks)

Top Wall Street analysts pick these 3 dividend stocks for higher returns (2024)

FAQs

Top Wall Street analysts pick these 3 dividend stocks for higher returns? ›

The best options are backed by strong financial health and have a history of consistent payments. According to Wall Street analysts, the top two high-yield dividend stocks in 2024 are Realty Income Corp (NYSE:O) and AT&T Inc (NYSE:T). Both stocks have a yield of over 5% and an annual growth rate of over 3%.

What are the three best dividend stocks? ›

Here are three high-yield dividend stocks I'm buying hand over fist.
  • Enterprise Products Partners LP. Enterprise Products Partners LP (NYSE: EPD) is a leading U.S. midstream energy company. ...
  • Pfizer. Pfizer (NYSE: PFE) ranks as one of the world's biggest biopharmaceutical companies. ...
  • Verizon Communications.
4 days ago

What three companies are paying the highest dividend What is their current dividend yield? ›

20 high-dividend stocks
CompanyDividend Yield
CVR Energy Inc (CVI)9.21%
Eagle Bancorp Inc (MD) (EGBN)8.87%
Evolution Petroleum Corporation (EPM)8.82%
Civitas Resources Inc (CIVI)8.82%
17 more rows
May 15, 2024

What stock returns highest dividend? ›

10 Best Dividend Stocks to Buy
  • Verizon Communications VZ.
  • Johnson & Johnson JNJ.
  • Altria Group MO.
  • Comcast CMCSA.
  • Medtronic MDT.
  • Duke Energy DUK.
  • PNC Financial Services PNC.
  • Kinder Morgan KMI.
May 3, 2024

What are the best growth stocks with dividends? ›

3 Cheap and Dependable Dividend-Growth Stocks to Buy
  • Nike Inc Class B. (NKE)
  • Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. (BMY)
  • Gilead Sciences Inc. (GILD)
4 days ago

What are the three dividend stocks to buy and hold forever? ›

7 Dividend Kings to Buy and Hold Forever
StockDividend yieldDividend growth streak
Procter & Gamble Co. (PG)2.4%68 years
3M Co. (MMM)6.5%65 years
Coca-Cola Co. (KO)3.3%61 years
Johnson & Johnson (JNJ)3.2%61 years
3 more rows
Apr 11, 2024

What is the best and safest dividend stock? ›

The best options are backed by strong financial health and have a history of consistent payments. According to Wall Street analysts, the top two high-yield dividend stocks in 2024 are Realty Income Corp (NYSE:O) and AT&T Inc (NYSE:T). Both stocks have a yield of over 5% and an annual growth rate of over 3%.

What are the top 5 dividend stocks to buy? ›

15 Best Dividend Stocks to Buy for 2024
StockDividend yield
United Micro Electronics (UMC)7.7%
Banco de Chile (BCH)7.4%
Vail Resorts Inc. (MTN)4.2%
First American Financial Corp. (FAF)3.8%
11 more rows
Apr 19, 2024

What are the best dividend stocks to buy today? ›

Top 10 Dividend Stocks In The United States
NameDividend YieldDividend Rating
Columbia Banking System (NasdaqGS:COLB)7.17%★★★★★★
Resources Connection (NasdaqGS:RGP)4.95%★★★★★★
Silvercrest Asset Management Group (NasdaqGM:SAMG)4.87%★★★★★★
Regions Financial (NYSE:RF)4.83%★★★★★★
6 more rows
3 days ago

Which stock pays the highest dividend in 2024? ›

Some of the highest dividend paying stocks in India are Vedanta Ltd., Hindustan Zinc Ltd, Coal India Ltd, T.V. Today Network Ltd, Bhansali Engineering Polymers Ltd, Balmer Lawrie Investment Ltd, Coal India Ltd.

What is the highest paying monthly dividend stock? ›

Top 10 Highest-Yielding Monthly Dividend Stocks in 2022
  • ARMOUR Residential REIT – 20.7%
  • Orchid Island Capital – 17.8%
  • AGNC Investment – 14.8%
  • Oxford Square Capital – 13.7%
  • Ellington Residential Mortgage REIT – 13.2%
  • SLR Investment – 11.5%
  • PennantPark Floating Rate Capital – 10%
  • Main Street Capital – 7%

How to pick dividend stocks? ›

Look at dividend growth

Generally speaking, you want to find companies that not only pay steady dividends but also increase them at regular intervals—say, once per year over the past three, five, or even 10 years.

Is Coca-Cola a dividend stock? ›

The company's CFO John Murphy talked about Coca Cola's plans to support its dividends during Q1'2024 earnings call: "We're committed to investing to drive growth and to support our dividend, which we have raised for 62 consecutive years.

How many dividend stocks should I own? ›

There is no hard and fast rule for how many dividend stocks to start a portfolio, but a good starting point is to aim for a minimum of 10. This will give you a good mix of different companies and sectors and help to diversify your risk.

What is the most aggressive stock? ›

But if they turn the corner, they could deliver tremendous gains for aggressive investors later in 2024 and beyond:
  • Yum China Holdings Inc. (ticker: YUMC)
  • Albemarle Corp. (ALB)
  • Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc. (WBA)
  • Ubiquiti Inc. (UI)
  • Chewy Inc. (CHWY)
  • Concentrix Corp. (CNXC)
Apr 30, 2024

Do you pay taxes on dividends? ›

Dividends can be classified either as ordinary or qualified. Whereas ordinary dividends are taxable as ordinary income, qualified dividends that meet certain requirements are taxed at lower capital gain rates.

What are the top 10 dividend? ›

More Collections >
NameDiv YldEPS
Vedanta Ltd36.98%₹38.99
Hindustan Zinc Ltd25.73%₹24.88
Bhansali Engineering Polymers Ltd17.37%₹5.49
360 ONE WAM Ltd16.02%₹18.47
8 more rows

What is the best dividend company of all time? ›

Some of the best dividend stocks include Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ), The Procter & Gamble Company (NYSE:PG), and AbbVie Inc (NYSE:ABBV) with impressive track records of dividend growth and strong balance sheets.

How do you know which stocks have the best dividends? ›

Look at dividend growth

Generally speaking, you want to find companies that not only pay steady dividends but also increase them at regular intervals—say, once per year over the past three, five, or even 10 years.

Which dividend model is best? ›

However, the three-stage model offers the most accurate estimation of a stock's intrinsic value because it accounts for subtle changes in dividend growth over time, rather than assuming that dividends will continue to grow at a fixed rate forever.

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