Merrill Lynch US 1 List On Sale: 4 Top Dividend Stocks to Buy Now

Investing

Published: January 25, 2016 8:35 am

Last Updated: January 13, 2020 2:39 pm

One thing investors need to always be wary of is Wall Street firms that tend to panic in a sell-off and immediately start shuffling around top picks, especially if those are underperforming the benchmark. Face it, if a stock on your list was good at the beginning of the year, a drastic early market slide does not change the fundamentals one bit.

One firm that always stand solidly behind its picks is Merrill Lynch, and since its launch, the firm’s US 1 list has dramatically outperformed the S&P 500. Early this year, it is trailing the index by just a little over 1.5%, and that’s a number that can easily be made up. We screened the list of the top Merrill Lynch picks for the dividend yielding stocks that are on sale and found four outstanding companies to buy now.

Assurant

Down 10% in just a little over a month, this top company is providing a very solid entry level for investors. Assurant Inc. (NYSE: AIZ) is a global provider of specialty protection products and related services to help guard customers against risk. The company’s diverse range of products and services includes: extended service products and related services for consumer electronics, appliances and vehicles; pre-funded funeral insurance; lender-placed homeowners insurance; property preservation and valuation services; debt protection administration; credit insurance; group dental insurance; group disability insurance; and group life insurance.

Assurant has constructed restructuring plans for the long-term growth of its business. Assurant is exiting both health and employee benefits to focus on specialty property and casualty and lifestyle protection. Specialty property is realigning the business, looking to add higher growth returns. The expected long-term earnings growth is currently pegged at 10.10%. In the fall, company management lifted the dividend 67% and initiated a $750 million stock buyback program.

Assurant investors receive a 2.52% dividend. The Merrill Lynch price target for the stock is $93. The Thomson/First Call consensus price target is $87.50. Shares closed on Friday at $79.47.