Focus on Dividends

Big insurers are maintaining their dividends, expecting better times ahead.   These top insurance stocks are worth considering right now. Insurance stocks are among the more intriguing options in this market. Among the most stable and consistent long-term bets, insurance companies are highly sought after by those with long investing time horizons. Insurance starts with a bet. A customer bets on a disaster that they’ll die, or their car will crash, or their business will be destroyed by a natural gas leak, as my late father’s TV repair business was in 1967. If disaster strikes, the customer “wins” and is made whole, up to the policy’s limits. (Dad’s shop re-opened soon after his loss.) If nothing happens, the insurer keeps the customer’s money and offers to play again with new odds and a new price tag. The biggest disasters cause insurers to raise their rates, but by carefully managing risk, they ensure this doesn’t hit them too hard. Insurance has been essential to bus

    Upgrades: Keefe, Bruyette & Woods upgraded shares of Truist Financial (NYSE:TFC) from an underperform rating to a market perform rating in a research note published on Sunday, The Fly reports. Several other research analysts also recently commented on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft downgraded shares of Truist Financial from a buy rating to a hold rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $61.00 to $48.00 in a report on Friday, January 6th. Stephens downgraded shares of Truist Financial from an overweight rating to an equal weight rating and set a $53.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Tuesday, January 31st. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of Truist Financial to $57.00 in a report on Wednesday, December 14th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on shares of Truist Financial from $59.00 to $56.00 and set an equal weight rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 20th. Finally, StockNews.c

    In this article, I will go through the weekly dividend increases and cuts in popular and well-known stocks. (Member of The Dividend Champions or Canadian All-Star list) Recently, 7 companies announced dividend increases. Note that no dividend cuts or suspensions were announced during this period. The table below summarises the dividend change announcements. The table shows the current dividend, the new dividend and the percentage increase (%). Dividends are shown on an annual basis and in US dollars unless otherwise stated. Yield is the new dividend yield of the most recent price, and Years is the years of consecutive dividend increases. Applied Materials, Inc. (AMAT) Applied Materials, Inc. engages in the provision of manufacturing equipment, services, and software to the semiconductor, display, and related industries. It operates through three segments: Semiconductor Systems, Applied Global Services, and Display and Adjacent Markets. Applied Materials, Inc

Two major forces are going to lift infrastructure stocks in the coming months and years   The onshoring trend and the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law make this a good time to find the best infrastructure stocks to buy. Two very powerful forces make infrastructure stocks very attractive at this point. One is the reshoring trend, which refers to American companies building more factories in the U.S. The other is the Bipartisan Infrastructure law, passed in November 2021, but is only starting to have a major impact on companies now. Given the convergence of these two powerful catalysts, this is a great time for long-term investors to find and pull the trigger on the best infrastructure stocks to buy. Many companies, including computer-chip makers, automakers, battery makers, and firms within the renewable-energy space, are building plants in the U.S. These factories, as CNBC’s Jim Lebenthal has pointed out, will boost infrastructure companies, both while the plants are being bu

Get your income and your capital gains as we get into 2023   With the market likely to encounter myriad variables this year, investors should really consider dividend stocks to buy. Fundamentally, companies that provide passive income to their stakeholders tend to weather down cycles better than their growth-centric counterparts. Mainly, this is because dividends come from profits – and profitable enterprises tend to enjoy well-established businesses. Another factor that will benefit dividend stocks to buy centers on economic realities. Recently, Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell testified before Congress, opening the door for more and quicker-paced rate hikes. Naturally, the rise in borrowing costs will impose headwinds on growth enterprises. And while dividend payers will suffer too, they should be able to ride the storm better. Finally, to ramp up the probabilities of success, all of the market ideas below enjoy analyst price targets that imply double-digit gains. Therefo

    Upgrades: UBS Group upgraded shares of Emerson Electric (NYSE:EMR) from a neutral rating to a buy rating in a research note released on Monday morning, MarketBeat reports. UBS Group currently has $97.00 target price on the industrial products company’s stock, down from their previous target price of $100.00. Several other equities research analysts have also recently weighed in on the stock. Cowen decreased their price objective on shares of Emerson Electric from $115.00 to $105.00 and set an outperform rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, February 21st. Mizuho increased their price objective on shares of Emerson Electric from $86.00 to $103.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 30th. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price target on shares of Emerson Electric from $110.00 to $107.00 and set an outperform rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 9th. Citigroup reduced their price target on shares o