Investing

Forget AT&T, 5 Dividend Stocks That Are Way Better

Lee Jackson

Published: December 13, 2023 7:50 am

Investors love dividend stocks because they provide dependable income and give investors a great opportunity for solid total return. Total return includes interest, capital gains, dividends, and distributions realized over time. In other words, the actual return on an investment or a portfolio has dividend income and stock appreciation.

For years, AT&T Inc. (NYSE: T) was considered the standard for dividend stocks as it was a Dow Jones Industrial blue chip controlling the landline telephone business in the United States.

That all changed in 1984. AT&T’s local telephone service was broken up into seven Baby Bells. The breakup gave consumers more choices and lower prices for long-distance service and phones.

The legacy telecommunications company has been going through a lengthy restructuring, lowered the dividend, and has sold off or merged underperforming assets. In 2015, the company was removed from the venerable Dow Jones Industrials.

We screened our 24/7 Wall St. dividend stock research database and found five dividend stocks that are much better ideas for dividend investors looking for dependable income and growth potential.

AbbVie

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This stock is one of the top pharmaceutical stock picks across Wall Street and pays a solid 4.10% dividend. AbbVie Inc. (NYSE: ABBV) discovers, develops, manufactures, and sells pharmaceuticals worldwide.

The company offers

• Humira, a therapy administered as an injection for autoimmune, intestinal Behçet’s diseases and pyoderma gangrenosum
• Skyrizi to treat moderate to severe plaque psoriasis, psoriatic disease, and Crohn’s disease
• Rinvoq, a JAK inhibitor to treat rheumatoid and psoriatic arthritis, ankylosing spondylitis, atopic dermatitis, axial spondyloarthropathy, and ulcerative colitis
• Imbruvica for the treatment of adult patients with blood cancers
• Venclexta/Venclyxto to treat hematological malignancies
• Facial injectables, plastics and regenerative medicine, body contouring, and skin care products
• Vraylar for depressive disorder
• Duopa and Duodopa to treat advanced Parkinson’s disease
• Ubrelvy for the acute treatment of migraine with or without aura in adults
• Qulipta for episodic migraine

In addition, the company offers Lumigan/Ganfort and Alphagan/Combigan for the reduction of elevated intraocular pressure(IOP) in patients with open-angle glaucoma (OAG) or ocular hypertension; Restasis, a calcineurin inhibitor immunosuppressant indicated to increase tear production; and eye care products.

AbbVie also provides

• Mavyret/Maviret to treat chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) genotype 1-6 infection and HCV genotype one infection
• Creon, a pancreatic enzyme therapy
• Lupron to treat advanced prostate cancer, endometriosis, central precocious puberty, and patients with anemia caused by uterine fibroids
• Linzess/Constella to treat irritable bowel syndrome with constipation and chronic idiopathic constipation
• Synthroid for hypothyroidism.

The Coca-Cola Company

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This company remains a top Warren Buffet holding as he owns a massive 400 million shares. Shareholders are paid a solid 3.26% dividend. The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE: KO) is the world’s largest beverage company, offering consumers more than 500 sparkling and still brands.

Led by Coca-Cola, one of the world’s most valuable and recognizable brands, the Company’s portfolio features 20 billion-dollar brands, including

• Diet Coke
• Fanta
• Sprite
• Coca-Cola Zero
• Vitaminwater
• Powerade
• Minute Maid
• Simply
• Georgia
• Del Valle

Globally, Coca-Cola is the No. 1 provider of sparkling beverages, ready-to-drink coffees, and juices and juice drinks.

Through the world’s most extensive beverage distribution system, consumers in more than 200 countries enjoy the company’s beverages at a rate of more than 1.9 billion servings a day.

It’s also important to remember that the company owns 16.7% of Monster Beverage (NASDAQ: MNST), which continues to deliver big numbers.

Coca-Cola has raised the dividend for a remarkable 61 years.

Exxon Mobil

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The backup in oil prices offers an excellent entry point, and investors will gladly grab a strong 3.81% dividend. Exxon Mobil Corporation (NYSE: XOM) is the world’s largest international integrated oil and gas company that explores for and produces crude oil and natural gas in the United States, Canada/South America, Europe, Africa, Asia, and Australia/Oceania.

Exxon Mobil also manufactures and markets

• Commodity petrochemicals
• Olefins,
• Aromatics,
• Polyethylene and polypropylene plastics
• Specialty products
• Transports and sells crude oil, natural gas, and petroleum products.

Top Wall Street analysts expect the company to remain a key beneficiary in a higher oil price environment, and most remain very positive around the company’s sharp positive inflection in capital allocation strategy, upstream portfolio, and leverage to a further demand recovery, with ExxonMobil offering greater Downstream/Chemicals exposure relative to peers.

Exxon Mobil and Pioneer Natural Resources (NYSE: PXD) jointly announced a definitive agreement for ExxonMobil to acquire Pioneer. The merger is an all-stock transaction valued at $59.5 billion, or $253 per share, based on ExxonMobil’s closing price on October 5, 2023.

Goldman Sachs

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This is one of the world’s biggest and most influential investment banks, paying investors a dependable 3.13% dividend. The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. (NYSE: GS), a financial institution, provides various financial services for corporations, financial institutions, governments, and individuals worldwide.

The company operates through

• Global Banking & Markets
• Asset & Wealth Management
• Platform Solutions

The Global Banking & Markets segment provides financial advisory services, including

• Strategic advisory assignments related to mergers and acquisitions
• Divestitures,
• Corporate defense activities
• Restructuring and spin-offs
• Relationship lending and acquisition financing
• Secured lending through structured credit
• Asset-backed lending and involved in resale agreements

This segment also offers client execution activities for cash and derivative instruments, credit and interest rate products, provision of mortgages, currencies, commodities, and equities-related products, as well as underwriting services.

The Asset & Wealth Management segment manages assets across various classes, including

• Equity
• Fixed income
• Hedge funds
• Credit funds
• Private Equity
• Real estate
• Currencies
• Commodities
• Provides customized investment advisory solutions,
• Wealth advisory services
• Personalized financial planning and personal banking services
• Invests in corporate equity, credit, real estate, and infrastructure assets

The Platform Solutions segment offers credit cards and point-of-sale financing for the purchase of goods or services. This segment also provides cash management services, such as deposit-taking and payment solutions for corporate and institutional clients.

Home Depot

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With the potential for a 2024 recession and still-high mortgage interest rates and home prices, people will likely stay put, and this top retailer pays a solid 2.81% dividend. The Home Depot, Inc. (NYSE: HD) operates as a home improvement retailer.

The company sells

• Various building materials
• Home improvement products
• Lawn and garden products
• Décor products
• Facilities maintenance, repair, and operations products

The company also offers

• Installation services for flooring
• Water heaters
• Baths
• Garage doors
• Cabinets
• Cabinet makeovers
• Countertops
• Sheds
• Furnaces
• Central air systems
• Windows
• Tool and equipment rental services

Home Depot primarily serves homeowners and professional renovators/remodelers, general contractors, maintenance professionals, handypersons, property managers, building service contractors, and specialty tradespeople, such as electricians, plumbers, and painters.

It also sells its products through websites, including homedepot.com, homedepot.ca, and homedepot.com.mx; blinds.com, an online site for custom window coverings; and thecompanystore.com, an online site for textiles and décor products, as well as through The Home Depot stores.