Top Wall Street analysts like these dividend-paying stocks

The major averages have been on a sharp upward turn since Donald Trump won the presidential election last week, but investors who want to buffer their portfolio from future market shocks may want to add dividend stocks.

To select the right dividend stocks, investors can consider the recommendations of top Wall Street analysts, who have a strong track record and provide useful insights based on a thorough analysis of a company’s fundamentals.

Here are three dividend-paying stocks, highlighted by Wall Street’s top pros on TipRanks, a platform that ranks analysts based on their past performance.

Enterprise Products Partners

This week’s first dividend pick is Enterprise Products Partners (EPD), a midstream energy services provider. For the third quarter of 2024, EPD announced a distribution of $0.525 per unit, reflecting a 5% year-over-year increase. EPD offers a high yield of 6.9%.

The company also enhances shareholder returns through share repurchases. During Q3 2024, EPD made repurchased about $76 million worth of its common units.

Following EPD’s Q3 results, RBC Capital analyst Elvira Scotto reiterated a buy rating on the stock with a price target of $36. The analyst noted that the company’s Q3 earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization of $2.442 billion was in line with Wall Street and RBC’s estimates, with increased natural gas marketing contributions offsetting a decline in the margins of the octane enhancement business and crude oil marketing.

Scotto highlighted EPD’s robust backlog of organic growth projects, with notable projects expected to come online next year and fuel the company’s growth. The analyst also expects the company to benefit from the recently completed acquisition of Pinon Midstream.

“We continue to believe the steady cash flow and EPD’s strong balance sheet (+/- 3.0x financial leverage target) can comfortably handle the spend and drive meaningful long-term growth,” said Scotto.

Scotto ranks No. 20 among more than 9,100 analysts tracked by TipRanks. Her ratings have been profitable 70% of the time, delivering an average return of 21.6%. See EPD Stock Buybacks on TipRanks.

International Business Machines

We move to the next dividend stock, IBM (IBM). The tech giant recently reported mixed results for the third quarter. Earnings exceeded analysts’ estimates, but the top line fell short of expectations as the solid growth in Software revenues was partially offset by lower Consulting and Infrastructure revenues.

In Q3, IBM generated free cash flow of $2.1 billion and returned $1.5 billion to shareholders through dividends. IBM stock offers a dividend yield of 3.1%.

Following investor meetings with IBM management, Evercore analyst Amit Daryanani reaffirmed a buy rating on IBM stock with a price target of $240. The analyst stated that after the meetings, he has a “more constructive view of the durability of the company’s long-term growth and their critical role as an enabler of hybrid IT + AI technologies.”

Commenting on IBM’s Enterprise artificial intelligence positioning, Daryanani thinks that IBM is capable of addressing the AI opportunity in both its Software and Consulting businesses. He highlighted that IBM’s AI book of business has increased to more than $3 billion, up from $1 billion a quarter ago, with about 80% of the bookings coming from the Consulting business.

Daryanani noted the strength in IBM’s Software business and expects this momentum to continue, driven by persistent growth in Red Hat (acquired in 2019), transaction processing growth, demand for AI/data solutions, and mergers and acquisitions. Further, the analyst expects the Consulting business to recover next year.

Overall, Daryanani is confident about IBM’s prospects under the leadership of CEO Arvind Krishna. He is optimistic about the company’s ability to grow its profit at a higher rate than revenue, thanks to the increasing Software mix, operating scale and cost optimization efforts.

Daryanani ranks No. 316 among more than 9,100 analysts tracked by TipRanks. His ratings have been successful 58% of the time, delivering an average return of 12.3%. See IBM Hedge Fund Activity on TipRanks.

Ares Capital

Finally, let’s look at Ares Capital (ARCC), a specialty finance company that provides financing solutions to private middle-market companies. ARCC recently reported solid third-quarter results, attributing them to strong new investment activity and healthy credit performance.

Also, Ares Capital announced a dividend of 48 cents per share for the fourth quarter, payable on Dec. 30. ARCC stock offers a dividend yield of 8.9%.

Following the Q3 print, RBC Capital analyst Kenneth Lee reaffirmed a buy rating on the stock and slightly raised the price target to $23 from $22. The analyst’s bullish stance is backed by ARCC’s “strong track record of managing risks through the cycle, well-supported dividends, and scale advantages.”

Lee lowered his adjusted EPS estimates for 2024 to $2.36 from $2.39, and he trimmed them for 2025 to $2.13 per share from $2.17 per share to account for reduced yield assumptions and changes in dividend income assumptions. Nonetheless, he is optimistic about the company’s potential due to its solid credit performance and less downside risk owing to a favorable macro backdrop.

Lee highlighted that ARCC’s portfolio activity was greater than expected, with Q3 witnessing net additions of more than $1.32 billion, much greater than RBC’s estimate of over $800 million. He also noted the company’s improved credit performance, with non-accruals moving down to 1.3% in Q3 from 1.5% in the second quarter.

Overall, Lee thinks that ARCC has the potential to deliver above peer-average return on equity and views its scale as a competitive advantage.

Lee ranks No. 34 among more than 9,100 analysts tracked by TipRanks. His ratings have been profitable 70% of the time, delivering an average return of 17.2%. See ARCC Stock Charts on TipRanks.