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Uncovering Income: Dividend Stocks With Strong Yields

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Dividend Stocks

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Uncovering Income: Dividend Stocks with Strong Yields

Amid the current market volatility, attractive income-generating investments can be hard to find.

Treasury bond yields hover near record lows, and U.S. companies face restrictions on issuing dividends if they accept COVID-19 stimulus funds. Moreover, Goldman Sachs estimates dividends for S&P 500 stocks will decline by 25% this year.

Which stocks can investors turn to for stable distributions and relatively high dividend yields? Today’s visualization shows 35 stocks that may meet this criteria, leveraging Goldman Sachs data as published by Forbes.

The Dividend Stocks to Watch

To compile the list, Goldman Sachs identified stocks from the Russell 1000 index that met a number of requirements:

  • A minimum annualized dividend yield of 3%
  • An S&P credit rating of at least BBB+
  • Ample cash on hand
  • Strong balance sheets
  • ”Reasonable” payout ratios
  • At least average performance since the market peak

Dividend yields, which measure dividend income in relation to the share price, were initially calculated March 27. We have updated them as of market close on April 8. Here’s the full breakdown, sorted from highest to lowest dividend yield:

RankCompanyTickerAnnual Dividend YieldSector
1CenterPoint Energy, Inc.NYSE: CNP6.90%Utilities
2Wells Fargo & CompanyNYSE: WFC6.74%Financials
3People's United Financial, Inc.NASDAQGS: PBCT6.34%Financials
4Franklin Resources, Inc.NYSE: BEN6.28%Financials
5Regency CentersNASDAQGS: REG5.82%Real estate
6Truist FinancialNYSE: TFC5.50%Financials
7International Business MachinesNYSE: IBM5.43%Tech
8Omnicom Group Inc.NYSE: OMC4.76%Communication services
9U.S. BancorpNYSE: USB4.71%Financials
10Raytheon Technologies (merger of Raytheon and United Tech.)NYSE: RTX4.69%Industrials
11NetApp, Inc.NASDAQGS: NTAP4.69%Information Technology
12The PNC Financial Services Group, Inc.NYSE: PNC4.62%Financials
13Eaton Vance Corp.NYSE: EV4.34%Financials
14Nucor CorporationNYSE: NUE4.12%Materials
15United Parcel Service, Inc.NYSE: UPS4.09%Industrials
16M&T Bank CorporationNYSE: MTB4.09%Financials
17Exelon CorporationNASDAQGS: EXC4.07%Utilities
18Archer-Daniels-Midland CompanyNYSE: ADM3.95%Consumer staples
193M Company NYSE: MMM3.95%Industrials
20Emerson Electric Co.NYSE: EMR3.84%Industrials
21Sysco Corp.NYSE: SYY3.81%Consumer staples
22Mid-America Apartment CommunitiesNYSE: MAA3.61%Real Estate
23Essex Property Trust, Inc.NYSE: ESS3.55%Real Estate
24MDU Resources GroupNYSE: MDU3.53%Utilities
25Cummins Inc.NYSE: CMI3.51%Industrials
26Sonoco Products Co.NYSE: SON3.50%Materials
27Cisco Systems, Inc.NASDAQGS: CSCO3.45%Information Technology
28American Electric Power Company, Inc.NYSE: AEP3.36%Utilities
29The Hartford Financial Services Group, Inc.NYSE: HIG3.36%Financials
30NiSource Inc.NYSE: NI3.30%Utilities
31Caterpillar Inc.NYSE: CAT3.23%Industrials
32Everest Re Group, Ltd.NYSE: RE3.13%Financials
33Bristol-Myers Squibb CompanyNYSE: BMY3.09%Health care, pharmaceuticals
34The Home Depot, Inc.NYSE: HD3.08%Consumer discretionary
35Bank of America CorporationNYSE: BAC3.07%Financials

Note: From the original list, 5 stocks have been excluded as they no longer meet the 3% annualized yield threshold.

Centerpoint Energy, an electric and natural gas utility company, is at the top of the list. Since utility stocks are generally considered to be recession-resistant, investors may benefit from both the company’s yield and its defensive qualities.

Financials are the most-represented sector, with 11 companies on the list. Although regulators have pressured European banks to suspend dividend payments, U.S. banks will likely be able to continue their distributions. Top banking executives have argued they have sufficient capital to weather the COVID-19 crisis, and that halting payments would be “destabilizing to investors.”

There are also a number of well-known names on the list, including Home Depot, IBM, and 3M. The latter is the largest maker of respirator masks worldwide, and has been providing critical supplies to the U.S., Canada, and Latin America.

Caution: Volatility Ahead

As the pandemic’s financial impact continues, it’s likely many companies will delay or suspend their dividends. To avoid falling into “yield traps”—a trap in which an attractive yield could be due to a fundamental business problem—investors can screen for the qualities laid out above.

A strong balance sheet, good credit rating, and average or better performance since the downturn can all help point towards stability.

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Will Tesla Lose Its Spot in the Magnificent Seven?

We visualize the recent performance of the Magnificent Seven stocks, uncovering a clear divergence between the group’s top and bottom names.

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Will Tesla Lose Its Spot in the Magnificent Seven?

This was originally posted on our Voronoi app. Download the app for free on iOS or Android and discover incredible data-driven charts from a variety of trusted sources.

In this graphic, we visualize the year-to-date (YTD) performance of the “Magnificent Seven”, a leading group of U.S. tech stocks that gained prominence in 2023 as the replacement of FAANG stocks.

All figures are as of March 12, 2024, and are listed in the table below.

RankCompanyYTD Change (%)
1Nvidia90.8
2Meta44.3
3Amazon16.9
4Microsoft12
5Google0.2
6Apple-6.7
7Tesla-28.5

From these numbers, we can see a clear divergence in performance across the group.

Nvidia and Meta Lead

Nvidia is the main hero of this show, setting new all-time highs seemingly every week. The chipmaker is currently the world’s third most valuable company, with a valuation of around $2.2 trillion. This puts it very close to Apple, which is currently valued at $2.7 trillion.

The second best performer of the Magnificent Seven has been Meta, which recently re-entered the trillion dollar club after falling out of favor in 2022. The company saw a massive one-day gain of $197 billion on Feb 2, 2024.

Apple and Tesla in the Red

Tesla has lost over a quarter of its value YTD as EV hype continues to fizzle out. Other pure play EV stocks like Rivian and Lucid are also down significantly in 2024.

Meanwhile, Apple shares have struggled due to weakening demand for its products in China, as well as the company’s lack of progress in the artificial intelligence (AI) space.

Investors may have also been disappointed to hear that Apple’s electric car project, which started a decade ago, has been scrapped.

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