Are These The Best Dividend Stocks To Buy In The Stock Market Now?
With inflation persisting at elevated levels, investors may be on the lookout for the best dividend stocks in the stock market. After all, they offer a stable passive income stream for investors in times of volatility. Moreover, companies that can afford to pay out consistent dividends tend to have an established track record and may be better able to weather any economic storms. As such, it is no surprise that many investors are looking to bolster their portfolios with dividend stocks.
Take AT&T (NYSE: T) for example. Just last week, its board of directors declared a quarterly dividend of $0.28 per common share. T stock now earns investors a 5.2% annual dividend yield. In other news, AT&T and Verizon (NYSE: VZ) recently made a deal with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). Namely, the FAA said that it expects AT&T and Verizon to more or less be able to roll out their 5G C-band networks by July 2023 after multiple delays. Ultimately, this should help solidify AT&T’s status as a 5G leader. With that being said, here are five of the best dividend stocks to check out in the stock market today.
Dividend Stocks To Watch Right Now
- Ford Motor Company (NYSE: F)
- Raytheon Technologies Corporation (NYSE: RTX)
- Nucor Corporation (NYSE: NUE)
- Darden Restaurants Inc. (NYSE: DRI)
- The 3M Company (NYSE: MMM)
Ford
Kicking off our list of dividend stocks today is Ford. The company has had a huge presence in the automotive industry for more than a century. In detail, it designs, manufactures, markets, and services a full line of electrified passenger and commercial vehicles. This includes Ford trucks, utility vehicles, vans, cars, and Lincoln luxury vehicles. Besides increasing its electrification efforts over the years, the company is also investing in the development of autonomous vehicles through Argo AI. Currently, Ford has an annual dividend yield of 3.57%.
Yesterday, the company said that it sold nearly 484,000 vehicles during the quarter. This marks a rise of nearly 2% from the more than 475,000 it reported in the second quarter of 2021. Ford attributes its second-quarter sales success to the growing sales of its Ford Explorer. Specifically, reported sales in June for the Explorer grew almost 110% to nearly 20,000 vehicles. At the same time, sales of its profitable F-Series pickup truck rose more than 26% to about 58,000 vehicles. Given the strong sales, should you pick up F stock?
Raytheon Technologies
Another top dividend stock to note is Raytheon. The aerospace and defense company provides advanced systems and services to commercial, military, and government customers around the globe. Meanwhile, its Pratt & Whitney segment supplies aircraft engines to aviation customers. Also, it has a Missiles & Defense segment that designs and produces integrated air and missile defense systems. RTX stock returns investors a 2.37% annual dividend yield.
On Monday, the U.S Army enlisted Raytheon to build a prototype of the Army’s Tactical Intelligence Targeting Access Node (TITAN) program. In detail, the company will build a tactical ground station to detect and track emerging threats and support long-range precision targeting. Besides that, the station must also collect data from space, aerial, and terrestrial sensors to provide targetable data to defense systems. Through this, Raytheon’s solution for TITAN offers multi-source intelligence support and improved situational awareness for station commanders. As such, should you invest in RTX stock?
Nucor
Following that, we have Nucor, a manufacturer of steel and steel products. The company has facilities in the U.S., Canada, and Mexico. In essence, it produces carbon and alloy steel in bars, beams, sheets, and plates. Nucor also fabricates concrete reinforced steel, precision castings, and steel fasteners. Through its David J. Joseph Company, the company also brokers ferrous and nonferrous metals, pig iron, and hot briquetted iron. At the moment, NUE stock has an annual dividend yield of 1.9%.
In late June, Nucor completed its purchase of C.H.I. Overhead doors from KKR & Co. (NYSE: KKR). For those unfamiliar, C.H.I. is a leading producer of overhead door products for residential and commercial markets in the U.S. and Canada. According to Nucor, C.H.I. has built a business with strong growth prospects that is a natural fit with the company’s capabilities. On top of that, Nucor expects the acquisition to be immediately accretive to earnings in the first year of ownership. Considering this acquisition, should you buy NUE stock?
Darden Restaurants
Darden Restaurants is a multi-brand restaurant operator that owns two fine dining chains, Eddie V’s and The Capital Grille. Not only that, Darden also owns six casual dining restaurant chains. These would include Olive Garden, LongHorn Steakhouse, Bahama Breeze, Seasons 52, Yard House, and Cheddar’s Scratch Kitchen. For a sense of scale, the company has over 1,800 restaurant locations and more than 175,000 employees, making it one of the world’s largest full-service restaurant companies. Currently, Darden boasts an annual dividend yield of 4.2%.
Two weeks ago, the company posted its financials for its fiscal 2022 fourth quarter which beat Wall Street estimates on revenue and earnings. Diving in, Darden posted a revenue of $2.6 billion, increasing by 14.2% and exceeding estimates of $2.54 billion. Darden owes this to an 11.7% increase in blended same-restaurant sales and sales from 33 net new restaurants. As for its profits, Darden reported earnings of $2.24 per share, topping the consensus estimate of $2.21 per share. Additionally, the company also declared a quarterly dividend of $1.21 per share, a 10% jump from its previous quarter. All things considered, will you be watching DRI stock?
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3M
3M is a company with a healthy track record of paying increasing dividends over the years. For the most part, it is a technology company that applies science in collaborative ways to improve the daily lives of its customers. It primarily operates through four segments, Safety and Industrial, Transportation and Electronics, Health Care, and Consumer. Impressively, MMM stock pays investors a 4.6% dividend yield annually. Last month, it was reported that 3M is investing more than $170 million into its site in Cordova, Illinois.
Notably, the funds will be used to engineer and install cutting-edge technology as the company pursues its goal of enhancing the quality of water returned to the environment. “These local investments in our operations will help sustain our environmental and manufacturing performance into the future, allowing us continued opportunities to contribute to the economic success of the Quad Cities and the entire region,” said David Andrews, site leader at 3M Cordova. All in all, the technology being installed will bring 3M closer to its 20-year environmental goals. Given this investment, is MMM stock worth checking out?
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