25 Dividend Stocks the Analysts Love Most for 2021

 

Income investors looking for more than just a little yield: These are the top dividend stocks for 2021, according to the pros.

 


One thing is clear when looking at the analysts' best dividend stocks right now: Wall Street expects big things from the beaten-down energy sector in 2021.

 

The pros are betting that the post-pandemic landscape will feature an increase in energy needs and perhaps a recovery in commodity prices, among other factors. And with the oil and gas industry expected to bounce back in the year ahead, the Street's most highly rated dividend stocks for 2021 include energy stocks of all stripes: oil and gas drillers, pipeline companies, oilfield services, and other sector names.

 

Although energy-sector names are over-represented on our list of analysts' favorite dividend payers, banks, pharmaceuticals and consumer staples also make appearances.

 

To find analysts' most beloved dividend stocks, we scoured the S&P 500 for dividend stocks with yields of at least 3%, excluding a number of extremely high yielders because of excessive risk. (Sometimes, a too-high yield can be a warning sign that a stock is in deep trouble.)

 

From that pool, we focused on stocks with an average broker recommendation of Buy or better. S&P Global Market Intelligence surveys analysts' stock ratings and scores them on a five-point scale, where 1.0 equals Strong Buy and 5.0 means Strong Sell. Any score of 2.5 or lower means that analysts, on average, rate the stock a Buy. The closer the score gets to 1.0, the stronger the Buy call.

 

 

Lastly, we dug into research, fundamental factors and analysts' estimates on the top-scoring names.

 

That led us to these top 25 dividend stocks for 2021, by virtue of their high analyst ratings and bullish outlooks. Read on as we analyze what makes each one stand out.

 

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