Top Wall Street analysts pick these 3 dividend stocks for the long haul

A robust fourth-quarter earnings season is underway, and it is time for dividend-paying corporations to shine.

Resilient dividend-paying corporations can supply long-term development potential and regular earnings. Traders ought to contemplate the perception of high Wall Avenue execs as they hunt for dividend shares with strong fundamentals.

Listed below are three enticing dividend shares, in line with Wall Avenue’s high consultants on TipRanks, a platform that ranks analysts based mostly on their previous efficiency.

Verizon Communications

First up is telecom big Verizon Communications (VZ), which lately reported its fourth-quarter outcomes and impressed buyers with the sturdy soar in wi-fi postpaid cellphone subscriber additions.

In 2023, the corporate raised its dividend for the seventeenth consecutive 12 months. Verizon’s quarterly dividend of $0.665 per share (annualized dividend of $2.66), displays a yield of 6.7%.

Following Verizon’s This fall outcomes, Tigress Monetary analyst Ivan Feinseth reiterated a purchase ranking on the inventory and elevated the worth goal to $50 per share from $45. The analyst famous that the corporate delivered robust subscriber and money circulation development in 2023, with additional acceleration anticipated this 12 months.

“Ongoing 5G and stuck wi-fi broadband momentum and elevated providers choices mixed with working efficiencies and margin enchancment will drive a reacceleration in money circulation development and bettering Enterprise Efficiency developments,” mentioned Feinseth.

The analyst thinks that Verizon’s strong stability sheet and money circulation help the corporate’s ongoing investments in spectrum enlargement and different development initiatives in addition to dividend hikes. Total, he thinks that the corporate gives a compelling funding alternative, given its excessive dividend yield and industry-leading place that permits it to profit from long-term telecom developments.    

Feinseth ranks No. 214 amongst greater than 8,700 analysts tracked by TipRanks. His scores have been worthwhile 61% of the time, with every delivering a median return of 11.7%. (See Verizon Hedge Fund Exercise on TipRanks)

Enterprise Merchandise Companions

This week’s second dividend choose is Enterprise Merchandise Companions (EPD), a grasp restricted partnership that gives midstream power providers. Final month, the corporate introduced a quarterly money distribution of $0.515 per unit for the fourth quarter of 2023, to be paid on Feb. 14. This quarterly distribution marks a 5.1% year-over-year enhance and displays a yield of almost 8%.

In response to EPD’s fourth-quarter outcomes, Stifel analyst Selman Akyol reaffirmed a purchase ranking on the inventory and raised the worth goal to $36 per share from $35. The analyst acknowledged that This fall 2023 outcomes barely surpassed his expectations. He elevated his 2024 earnings earlier than curiosity, tax, depreciation and amortization estimate by greater than 2%, primarily because of the firm’s pure fuel liquids pipeline section.

Additional, Akyol anticipates that the momentum in EPD’s pipeline and export throughputs will proceed within the close to time period. The analyst additionally identified that EPD has elevated its distributions for 25 years. He expects distributions to be the first mode of returning capital to unitholders, with buybacks projected to be opportunistic.

Explaining his funding stance, Akyol mentioned, “We imagine Enterprise has one of many strongest monetary profiles throughout the midstream sector, and might stand up to turbulence from a risky macro atmosphere.”

Akyol holds the 695th place amongst greater than 8,700 analysts tracked by TipRanks. His scores have been worthwhile 64% of the time, with every delivering a median return of 5%. (See EPD Insider Buying and selling Exercise on TipRanks)

MPLX LP

Our third dividend choose is one other midstream power participant, MPLX LP (MPLX). Final month, the grasp restricted partnership introduced a quarterly distribution of 85 cents per widespread unit for the fourth quarter of 2023, payable on Feb. 14. MPLX gives a dividend yield of 9%.

Primarily based on the lately introduced fourth-quarter outcomes, RBC Capital analyst Elvira Scotto reiterated a purchase ranking on MPLX inventory and elevated the worth goal to $46 per share from $45. The analyst famous that the corporate’s This fall 2023 adjusted EBITDA surpassed consensus expectations by 4%, because of elevated product volumes, greater pipeline charges within the logistics and storage section, and better processing volumes within the gathering and processing unit.

Given the excessive yield supplied by the inventory, Scotto thinks that MPLX stays some of the enticing earnings performs within the large-cap MLP area. The analyst expects a money distribution of $3.57 per unit in 2024 and $3.84 per unit in 2025. That is up from $3.40 in 2023.   

Scotto thinks that “future money circulation era together with the monetary flexibility offered by reducing leverage and enough distribution protection can drive incremental capital returns to buyers over time.”    

Scotto ranks No. 83 amongst greater than 8,700 analysts tracked by TipRanks. Her scores have been worthwhile 64% of the time, with every delivering a median return of 17.8%. (See MPLX Technical Evaluation on TipRanks)