The S&P 500 keeps climbing, up nearly 9% year to date, and yet a handful of large-cap dividend payers are trading like the bull market forgot they exist. That is exactly where opportunity hides in July. If you have $1,000 to put to work, three NYSE-listed names stand out on valuation, cash flow, and payout durability. Each carries a forward earnings multiple well below the broader market, each throws off real income, and each has a specific catalyst that could re-rate the stock over the next 12 to 18 months.
The premise is simple. When investors crowd into AI and momentum, cash-generative businesses get orphaned. That is the setup here.
Pfizer (NYSE: PFE)
Pfizer (NYSE:PFE | PFE Price Prediction) is the cleanest “absurdly cheap” name on this list. Shares trade around $24 with a forward P/E of 8, roughly a third of the S&P 500’s multiple. The trailing dividend yield sits at 7.1%, backed by a 43-cent quarterly payout that has been paid consistently through 2026, with the next ex-dividend date on July 24, and payment on Sept. 1.
The bull case is that COVID revenue has already normalized and the growth engine is now new products. Q1 2026 revenue came in at $14.45 billion, up 5.4% year over year, with launched and acquired products growing 22% operationally. Padcev rose 39% and Nurtec ODT/Vydura jumped 41%. The Vyndamax patent settlement extending US exclusivity to June 2031 pushes out a major revenue cliff, and management reaffirmed FY2026 adjusted EPS guidance of $2.80 to $3.00. CEO Albert Bourla said Pfizer is “off to a strong start in 2026…positioned to lead” in oncology and obesity.
Risk: Legacy COVID franchises are still in free fall, with Comirnaty down 59% and Paxlovid down 63%, and management flagged a $1.5 billion loss-of-exclusivity headwind in 2026. Analysts still see upside, with a consensus target of $29.15.
CVS Health (NYSE: CVS)
CVS Health (NYSE:CVS) is a different kind of cheap: a turnaround that is already working, but that’s still priced like it isn’t. Shares changed hands at $104.81, up nearly 57% over the past year, yet the forward P/E is still only 14, well under the S&P 500. Against management’s raised FY2026 adjusted EPS guide of $7.30 to $7.50, that math looks fair even after the run.
Q1 2026 was the proof point. Revenue reached $100.43 billion, up 6.2% year over year, and adjusted EPS of $2.57 beat the $2.21 consensus by 16.47%. The Health Care Benefits segment, the one that scared investors two years ago, delivered adjusted operating income of $3.04B, up 52.6%, with the medical benefit ratio improving to 84.6% from 87.3%. Full-year revenue guidance was raised to at least $405B with operating cash flow of $9.5 billion or more. CEO David Joyner pointed to “strong execution across our enterprise”, serving nearly 185 million people.
Yield here is thinner at 2.54%, so this is more about earnings recovery than income. Risks include elevated medical cost trends, pharmacy reimbursement pressure, and the Omnicare Chapter 11 filing in September 2025. Still, 24 of 28 analysts rate CVS a Buy or a Strong Buy.
AT&T (NYSE: T)
AT&T (NYSE:T) is the pure income idea. At $21.24, the stock is down nearly 14% year to date, and that pullback has pushed the yield to 5.23% on the 27-cent quarterly payout that has held steady for at least eight consecutive quarters. The forward P/E of 9 is again a fraction of the market. The next ex-dividend date is July 10.
The story is convergence. Q1 2026 revenue was $31.51 billion, up 2.9%, with 584,000 internet net adds, the best first quarter ever, and 294,000 postpaid phone net adds at churn of 0.89%. Advanced home internet revenue climbed 27.3% to $2.80 billion. Management guided FY2026 adjusted EPS of $2.25 to $2.35, free cash flow of $18 billion or more, and committed to more than $45 billion in shareholder returns through 2028, including roughly $8 billion of buybacks in 2026. CEO John Stankey called it the “best first quarter ever for Advanced Connectivity internet customer net additions”.
Risk: The balance sheet. Total debt is $138.4 billion, and net leverage will rise toward 3.2x post-EchoStar. Reddit sentiment reflected the anxiety, with wallstreetbets activity turning bearish in late June (scores of 33–38) before neutralizing in early July. Analysts still see upside to $30.24.
The Setup for July
Three names, three flavors of cheap. Pfizer offers the highest yield and the biggest valuation gap. CVS offers the strongest earnings momentum against a still-modest multiple. AT&T offers durable free cash flow and a covered payout in a market that keeps paying up for growth. Split $1,000 across all three and you get income, optionality, and a starting valuation that requires very little to go right.
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