Temperatures are getting lower, at least in most of the United States. The Farmer’s Almanac predicts above-average snowfall for much of the U.S. and colder-than-normal weather. There will be many days, it seems, where the best thing you’ll be able to do is sit by a fire and bask in the warmth of your dividend stocks.
Nothing warms my heart like solid dividend stocks providing a good return. Dividend stocks are some of the best investments you can make because they have the potential to pay you twice.
First, a good dividend stock should make money because it’s a solid company with a good product, solid earnings, growing profits and revenue and a rosy outlook. Put those attributes together; you’ll often have a stock that beats the market.
The second way a dividend pays you is with its regular payout. Most dividend stocks pay monthly or quarterly; those payouts are icing on the cake for income investors. You can either use the payout as income or reinvest it to grow your position even faster.
While there are plenty of solid dividend stocks out there, I particularly like the names on this list. All of them have great ratings in my Portfolio Grader tool. And they should all help you escape the winter chill.
Apple (AAPL)
Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) is an extraordinary company, and the biggest in the world by market cap, valued at nearly $3 trillion. It has a powerful smartphone market position with over 1 billion customers. It makes fabulous wearable products, top-of-the-line desktop computers, tablets and wearable devices.
You must also love Apple’s Services division, which includes high-profit centers like the App Store. The Services segment brought in $22.31 billion in revenue in the fiscal fourth quarter of 2023, or more than a quarter of the company’s total revenue of $89.5 billion.
While overall sales dropped for four consecutive quarters thanks to weakness in iPad and Mac sales, management believes that those numbers will rebound thanks to its new M3 chips that are expected to trigger more sales.
AAPL stock is up 46% this year and it has a dividend yield of 0.5%. It gets a “B” rating in both the Portfolio Grader and the Dividend Grader.
Visa (V)
Visa (NYSE:V) is one of the top fintech companies out there, with a dominant position in the credit card and debit card space. Visa is an indispensable middleman between buyers and sellers, facilitating over 192 billion transactions in 2022 in over 160 countries.
That leads to massive profits for Visa and its shareholders. The company brought in $8.6 billion in revenue in the fiscal fourth quarter of 2023, up 11% from a year ago. Income of $4.7 billion resulted in earnings of $2.27 per share.
While some economists predict that a recession could be around the corner, the U.S. economy remains resilient. The U.S. economy grew by 5.2% in the third quarter, and the holiday shopping season appears to start strongly.
V stock is up 24% this year and pays a dividend yield of 0.8%. It has an “A” rating in the Dividend Grader and a “B” rating in the Portfolio Grader.
Walmart (WMT)
Walmart (NYSE:WMT) is a blue-chip retail stock that’s hard to ignore. The company has over 10,500 locations worldwide with sales last year of more than $600 billion.
The world’s biggest retailer is in a dominant position. By expanding into the grocery space a few years ago Walmart is recession-proof. Customers will always get bread and milk, even when big-ticket items are out of their reach.
Walmart also does a better job than many other retailers in offering lower prices because its sheer size allows it to negotiate lower prices from suppliers.
Revenue for the third quarter included revenue of $160.8 billion, up 5.2% from a year ago. Comparable sales in the U.S. were up 4.9%, and e-commerce sales were up 24% from a year ago.
WMT stock appears set for a massive holiday shopping season. The stock is up 9% this year and it offers a dividend yield of 1.5%. Walmart gets “B” ratings in the Dividend Grader and the Portfolio Grader.
Broadcom (AVGO)
Broadcom (NASDAQ:AVGO) is a top designer of semiconductor products to support data centers, networking, software, broadband, wireless, storage, and industrial applications.
Broadcom recently closed its long-awaited deal to acquire cloud-computing company VMWare, a software services company emphasizing cybersecurity and cloud computing. The deal will allow Broadcom to improve private and multi-cloud capabilities for its customers.
As data centers and cloud computing continue to grow in importance, Broadcom is positioning itself in a prime position to capitalize for years down the road. Broadcom reported third-quarter revenue of $8.87 billion in the third quarter, and is forecasting Q4 revenue of $9.27 billion.
AVGO stock is up 65% this year and pays a dividend yield of 2%. It gets “A” rating in the Portfolio Grader and the Dividend Grader.
Lennar (LEN)
Lennar (NYSE:LEN) is a diversified real estate company that builds homes, operates apartment rental communities and provides mortgage, title and insurance services.
Rising interest rates are taking a toll on Lennar’s earnings, unsurprisingly. Third-quarter earnings were down from $1.5 billion a year ago to $1.1 billion this year. The average sale price for a new home fell from $500,000 to $448,000. Revenue dropped from $8.8 billion to $8.7 billion.
But even against that backdrop, LEN stock is having a good year. The stock price is up over 40% in 2023 as Lennar works to improve the balance sheet by repaying $475 million in debt. Lennar now has $3.9 billion cash on hand against $2.6 billion debt, putting it in a strong position.
Lennar also repurchased $366 million in stock in the third quarter while paying a dividend yield of 1.2%
This strengthens Lennar and makes it an appealing stock for when the housing market improves. LEN gets “B” ratings in the Portfolio Grader and the Dividend Grader.
D.R. Horton (DHI)
D.R. Horton (NYSE:DHI) is the largest homebuilder in the United States. It operates in 33 states and 118 markets, building everything from starter homes to luxury properties.
The company appears to be in an enviable position. The Federal Reserve’s cycle of rapid interest rate hikes appears to be slowing. And many markets across the country are reporting housing shortages.
And D.R. Horton’s market share for houses that sell is soaring. The company says that it accounted for 89,092 closings in the fiscal 2023 year (ending Sept. 30), or nearly 14% of all home sales in the U.S.
D.R. Horton also has a rapidly growing rental operation, with revenues from single-family rental properties increasing from $313.8 million in 2022 to $2.01 billion in 2023.
DHI stock is up 43% in 2023 and provides a dividend yield of 1%. It gets a “B” rating in the Dividend Grader and an “A” rating in the Portfolio Grader.
Mastercard (MA)
Mastercard (NYSE:MA) is Visa’s top competitor. Both companies are profiting from how people handle money today, or, more specifically, how they don’t handle money.
More than ever, today is a cashless society as people are less inclined to carry cash and more willing to use their credit or debit cards for everyday transactions.
Using Mastercard is easier than ever, as most vendors provide methods for swiping or tapping a card. And Mastercard gets a tiny portion of each of those transactions.
All those little transactions add up. Revenue in the third quarter was $6.5 billion, up from $5.8 billion a year ago. Operating income rose from $3.1 billion to $3.8 billion, and earnings per share rose from $2.58 a year ago to $3.39 now.
MA stock is up 19% this year and pays a dividend yield of 0.6%. It gets “B” ratings in the Dividend Grader and the Portfolio Grader.
On the date of publication, neither Louis Navellier nor the InvestorPlace Research Staff member primarily responsible for this article held (either directly or indirectly) any positions in the securities mentioned in this article.