Although major stock indexes have hit new records recently, there are still many catalysts that could change things, including geopolitical tensions and the upcoming U.S. presidential election.
Investors looking for stability in their portfolio may want to consider high-quality dividend stocks, especially those with a track record of consistent income payments.
Analysts conduct in-depth research on a company’s fundamentals and its ability to pay and grow dividends over the long term.
Here are three attractive dividend stocksaccording to Wall Street’s Top Experts TipRanks is a platform that ranks analysts based on their past performance.
ambridge
energy infrastructure companies ambridge (Environment Agency) is the first dividend-paying pick this week.The company transports nearly 30% of North America’s crude oil production and about 20% of the natural gas consumed in the United States
Enbridge increases dividend 29 years old. Its dividend yield is 7.7%.
Following the recent investor day event, RBC Capital analysts Robert Kwan Reiterate Buy rating on ENB stock. Analysts believe recent developments, including regulatory approval of the acquisition of Eastern Ohio Gas, will support confidence in the company’s ability to grow profitably.
Notably, Eastern Ohio Gas is the largest of Enbridge’s three utilities (the other two being Questar Gas and North Carolina Public Service). Agree to acquire From Dominion Energy.
“Dominion Utilities represents the next chapter in Enbridge’s family of growth platforms,” said Kwan.
The analyst emphasized that the company has extended its growth target to 2026 and currently expects advance profit growth between 2023 and 2026 to be between 7% and 9%. This compares with previous growth prospects of 4% to 9%. Growth from 2022 to 2025 is expected to be 6%. Additionally, the company expects this forecast to allow it to increase its annual dividend.
Guan is ranked No. 191 among more than 8,700 analysts tracked by TipRanks. His rating success rate is 67%, with an average return per rating of 10.2%. (look Enbridge Hedge Fund Activity on prompt ranking)
Bank of America
Next is Bank of America (Buck), one of the world’s leading banking institutions. In 2023, the bank will return $12 billion to shareholders through dividends and stock buybacks.
bank declare dividend 24 cents per share for the first quarter of 2024, payable on March 29. BAC stock has a dividend yield of 2.6%.
Recently, analysts at Royal Bank of Canada Capital Gerald Cassidy Reiterate a Buy rating on Bank of America with a price target of $39. The analyst is optimistic about the leadership of Chairman and Chief Executive Brian Moynihan, who has helped the bank steadily improve profitability through a focus on spending and solid credit underwriting principles.
Cassidy also pointed out that BAC has a strong balance sheet, with a common equity tier 1 ratio of 11.8% and a supplementary leverage ratio of 6.1% as of December 31, 2023.
“Additionally, due to its strong capital position and PPNR (pre-tax, pre-provision earnings), it should be able to pay and grow its dividend throughout the economic downturn,” Cassidy said.
The analyst highlighted the bank’s growing deposit market share, its dominance of global capital markets and the stock’s attractive valuation. He expects BAC’s profitability to increase due to the popularity of mobile products.
Cassidy ranks No. 143 among more than 8,700 analysts tracked by TipRanks. His rating success rate is 62%, with an average return per rating of 14.9%. (look BAC technical analysis on prompt ranking)
Pepsi
This week’s third dividend pick is the snack food and beverage giant Pepsi (PEP). Last month, the company reported better-than-expected fourth-quarter profit, even as revenue fell and missed analysts’ expectations due to demand pressure from its North American operations.
Nonetheless, Pepsi Announced a 7% interest rate hike Increase the annualized dividend to $5.42 per share, effective with dividend payment in June 2024. This increase marks 52ND Increased dividend payments for one consecutive year. PepsiCo’s current dividend yield is 2.9%.
Overall, PepsiCo aims to return approximately $8.2 billion in cash to shareholders by 2024, including $7.2 billion in dividends and $1 billion worth of stock repurchases.
On March 18, Morgan Stanley analysts Darla Mosonian Raise PepsiCo stock to buy from hold with a price target of $190. The analyst cited two reasons for the stock’s earlier downgrade: valuation concerns and his belief that consensus organic sales growth (OSG) guidance seemed too high.
However, Mohsenian noted, “Both of these issues have now been resolved, and we will look at this next after PEP essentially bottomed out in Q1 and recovered to levels above consensus and peer OSG (PEP’s valuation was overly compressed). Be an active buyer ahead of a strong inflection point in the first half of the year. ”.
The analyst ranks PepsiCo as its top pick, arguing that the market has not yet fully priced in the growth prospects of the company’s international business.
Mohsenian is ranked No. 383 among more than 8,700 analysts tracked by TipRanks. Analyst ratings are profitable 68% of the time, with an average return of 9.2% per rating. (look PepsiCo stock buyback on prompt ranking)
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