Every year, the top Wall Street firms release a list of their top stock picks for the coming 12 months, and typically, they are companies that the stock analysts have incredibly high conviction in. In addition, they often have good upside to the assigned price target and are bestowed with either a Buy or Overweight rating depending on the company providing the coverage.
At 24/7 Wall St., we like to cover these top stocks and then screen the companies looking for those paying the highest dividends to investors, as this can increase the total return potential for investors.
Again, total return is the combined increase in a stock’s value plus dividends. For instance, if you buy a stock at $20 that pays a 3% dividend, and it goes up to $22 in a year, your total return is 13%—10% for the increase in stock price and 3% for the dividends paid.
We screened the 39 top stocks from the Deutsche Bank Fresh Money list for the first quarter of 2024 and found five companies that are the favorite 2024 picks that also pay stellar dividends. All are rated Buy.
Charles Schwab
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The legacy discount broker pays a 1.55% dividend, and the Deutsche Bank analysts have a substantial $84 target price. The Charles Schwab Corporation (NYSE: SCHW) operates as a savings and loan holding company that provides wealth management, securities brokerage, banking, asset management, custody, and financial advisory services internationally.
The company operates in two segments:
- Investor Services
- Advisor Services.
It offers brokerage accounts with:
- Equity and fixed-income trading
- Margin lending
- Options trading
- Futures and forex trading
- Cash management capabilities, including certificates of deposit
- Third-party mutual funds through the Mutual Fund Marketplace and Mutual Fund OneSource service, as well as mutual fund trading and clearing services to broker-dealers
- Exchange-traded funds
- Advisory solutions for managed portfolios, separately managed accounts, customized personal advice for tailored portfolios, specialized planning, and full-time portfolio management
- Banking products comprising checking and savings accounts, first-lien residential real estate mortgage loans, home equity lines of credit, and pledged asset lines
- Trust custody services, personal trust reporting services, and administrative trustee services
Charles Schwab also provides:
- Digital retirement calculators
- Integrated web, mobile, and software-based trading platforms
- Real-time market data
- Options trading
- Premium research and multi-channel access
- Self-service education and support tools
- Online research and analysis tools
- Equity compensation plan sponsors full-service recordkeeping for stock plans, stock options, restricted stock, performance shares, and stock appreciation rights
- Retirement plan services
- Mutual fund clearing services; and advisor services
Kraft Heinz
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Even in bad times, this company performs well, and shareholders are paid a very rich 4.60% dividend. The Kraft Heinz Company (NYSE: KHC) was formed via the 2015 merger of H.J. Heinz Company and Kraft Foods Group.
The company is a leading global food company with $25 billion of estimated annual revenues generated by well-known brands such as Kraft, Heinz, Oscar Meyer, and Maxwell House.
Kraft Heinz is North America’s third-largest food and beverage manufacturer, and it derives 76% of its revenues from that market and 24% from International.
The Company’s additional brands include:
- ABC
- Capri Sun
- Classico
- Jell-O
- Kool-Aid
- Lunchables
- Ore-Ida
- Oscar Mayer
- Philadelphia
- Planters
- Plasmon
- Quero
- Weight Watchers
- Smart Ones
- Velveeta
The Deutsche Bank team has a $42 target price for the shares.
Merck
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This company remains a leading healthcare stock for conservative investors and pays a dependable 2.38% dividend. Merck & Co. Inc. (NYSE: MRK) is a global healthcare company.
It operates through two segments:
- Pharmaceutical
- Animal Health.
The Pharmaceutical segment offers human health pharmaceutical products in oncology, hospital acute care, immunology, neuroscience, virology, cardiovascular, and diabetes, as well as vaccine products, such as preventive pediatric, adolescent, and adult vaccines.
The Animal Health segment discovers, develops, manufactures, and markets veterinary pharmaceuticals, vaccines, and health management solutions and services, as well as digitally connected identification, traceability, and monitoring products.
Merck serves
- Drug wholesalers
- Retailers
- Hospitals and government agencies
- Managed health care providers, such as health maintenance organizations
- Pharmacy benefit managers and other institutions
- Physicians
- Physician distributors
- Veterinarians
- Animal producers
The Deutsche Bank analyst has set a $115 target price for the shares.
PNC Financial Services Group
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This bank has a vast client base, pays a hefty 4.21% dividend, and is among the top 10 U.S. banks by assets. The PNC Financial Services Group, Inc. (NYSE: PNC) is a diversified financial services company in the United States.
It operates through three segments:
- Retail Banking,
- Corporate & Institutional Banking
- Asset Management Group
The company’s Retail Banking segment offers checking, savings, and money market accounts, as well as certificates of deposit; residential mortgages; home equity loans and lines of credit; auto loans; credit cards, education loans, and personal and small business loans and lines of credit; and brokerage, insurance, and investment and cash management services.
This segment serves consumer and small business customers through branches, ATMs, call centers, and online and mobile banking channels.
PNC’s Corporate & Institutional Banking segment provides:
- Secured and unsecured loans
- Letters of credit and equipment leases
- Cash and investment management services
- Receivables and disbursement management services
- Funds transfer services
- International payment services
- Access to online/mobile information management and reporting
- Securities underwriting
- Loan syndications
- Customer-related trading
- Mergers and acquisitions and equity capital markets advisory-related services
- Commercial loan servicing and technology solutions
The company’s Asset Management Group segment offers investment and retirement planning, customized investment management, credit and cash management solutions, and trust management and administration services for high-net-worth and ultra-high-net-worth individuals and their families, and multi-generational family planning services for ultra-high net worth individuals and their families.
It also provides outsourced chief investment officers, custody, private real estate, cash and fixed-income client solutions, and fiduciary retirement advisory services for institutional clients.
The Deutsche Bank target price for the stock is posted at $160.
Ryman Hospitality Properties
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This off-the-radar REIT pays a substantial 3.70% dividend, and the Deutsche Bank analyst has a $128 target price. Ryman Hospitality Properties, Inc. (NYSE: RHP) is a leading lodging and hospitality real estate investment trust specializing in upscale convention center resorts and entertainment experiences.
The Company’s holdings include:
- Gaylord Opryland Resort & Convention Center
- Gaylord Palms Resort & Convention Center
- Gaylord Texan Resort & Convention Center
- Gaylord National Resort & Convention Center
- Gaylord Rockies Resort & Convention Center
Five of the top seven largest non-gaming convention center hotels in the United States based on total indoor meeting space.
The Company also owns the JW Marriott San Antonio Hill Country Resort & Spa and two ancillary hotels adjacent to our Gaylord Hotels properties.
Marriott International manages the Company’s hotel portfolio, including 11,414 rooms and over 3 million square feet of indoor and outdoor meeting space in top convention and leisure destinations nationwide.
Ryman Hospitality also owns a 70% controlling ownership interest in Opry Entertainment Group (OEG), which is composed of entities owning a growing collection of iconic and emerging country music brands, including:
- The Grand Ole Opry
- Ryman Auditorium
- WSM 650 AM
- Ole Red, Nashville-area attractions
- Block 21, a mixed-use entertainment, lodging, office, and retail complex, including the W Austin Hotel and the ACL Live at the Moody Theater, located in downtown Austin, Texas
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