A dividend stock refers to a company that is known to regularly reward their shareholders with a fraction of their profits on a monthly, quarterly, semi-annually or sometimes even a yearly basis.
Dividend paying companies provide a steady stream of income to shareholders, and many still offer the potential for stock price appreciation. Stability and income generation has always remained a top priority for many investors.
Given ongoing economic uncertainty, investors hunt for dividend-paying stocks that are undervalued, as only companies that have quality fundamentals and a robust foundation have the financial stability to maintain their dividends during questionable economic periods.
Another great aspect of adding dividend stocks to one’s portfolio is the ability to reinvest any dividends paid out by a company, using them to buy more shares (sometimes called ‘DRIP’), and taking advantage of compounding returns.
Best Dividend Stocks January 2025
| Company Name | Stock Symbol | Dividend Yield | P/E Ratio | Dividend CAGR |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Regions Financial Corporation | RF | 4.3% | 13.1x | 11.4% |
| Conagra Brands, Inc. | CAG | 5.0% | 26.9x | 10.5% |
| Ally Financial Inc. | ALLY | 3.3% | 14.2x | 14.9% |
| Nexstar Media Group, Inc. | NXST | 4.3% | 8.5x | 29.2% |
| First Interstate BancSystem Inc | FIBK | 5.8% | 14.4x | 10.9% |
| The Wendy’s Co | WEN | 6.1% | 17.1x | 24.1% |
| Scorpio Tankers Inc | STNG | 3.2% | 3.3x | 28.5% |
| Carter’s, Inc. | CRI | 5.9% | 8.6x | 10.8% |
| Virtus Investment Partners Inc | VRTS | 4.1% | 13.0x | 28.1% |
| DHT Holdings Inc | DHT | 9.5% | 9.3x | 56.9% |
Why We Picked These Dividend Stocks
The dividend stocks that have been screened and included in the list below show solid, consistent dividend prospects, strong fundamentals, long profit histories and strong credit ratings. We want to show investors that the best dividend stocks available for trading often still have room to run, while also hedging against too much volatility and generating additional compoundable (when reinvested) income.
The numbered list of such top dividend companies are displayed below:
Regions Financial Corporation (RF)
- Market Cap: 21.376 billion
- Fair Value: $27.46
- Fair Value Upside: 16.7%
Regions Financial Corporation is an American bank holding company, founded in 1971 with headquarters located in Birmingham, Alabama. It operates through three segments: Corporate Bank, Consumer Bank, and Wealth Management. The banking company is the largest deposit holder in Alabama and Tennessee.
- Market Cap: 13.246 billion
- Fair Value: $32.86
- Fair Value Upside: 18.4%
Conagra Brands, Inc. operates as a consumer packaged goods food company primarily in the United States. It was incorporated in 1919 and is headquartered in Chicago, Illinois. The company operates through four segments: Grocery & Snacks, Refrigerated & Frozen, International, and Foodservice. It sells its products under the Birds Eye, Marie Callender’s, Duncan Hines, Healthy Choice, Slim Jim, Reddi-wip, Angie’s, BOOMCHICKAPOP brands.
- Market Cap: 10.973 billion
- Fair Value: $42.83
- Fair Value Upside: 18.9%
Ally Financial Inc. is an American bank holding company, with headquarters located in Detroit, Michigan. It provides financial services including car finance, online banking through a direct bank, vehicle insurance, and mortgage loans, among others. It is the among the largest car finance companies in the country. The company was formerly known as GMAC Inc. and changed its name to Ally Financial Inc. in May 2010.
Nexstar Media Group Inc (NXST)
- Market Cap: 4.901 billion
- Fair Value: $206.92
- Fair Value Upside: 31%
Nexstar Media Group, Inc. is a leading diversified media company which produces and distributes engaging local as well as national news, sports and entertainment content across its television and digital platforms. It includes over 310,000 hours of programming produced annually by its business units.
Headquartered in Irving, Texas, Midtown Manhattan, and Chicago, Nexstar owns America’s largest local broadcasting group of top network affiliates, with 200 owned or partner stations in 116 U.S. markets reaching 220 million people.
First Interstate BancSystem Inc (FIBK)
- Market Cap: 3.394 billion
- Fair Value: $42.13
- Fair Value Upside: 29.8%
First Interstate BancSystem, Inc. operates as the bank holding company for First Interstate Bank that provides range of banking products and services in the United States. It is headquartered in Billings, Montana. It is the largest bank based in Montana, on the basis of total assets. It was incorporated in 1971.
- Market Cap: 3.323 billion
- Fair Value: $18.03
- Fair Value Upside: 10.6%
The Wendy’s Company (WEN) is a well-known American fast-food restaurant chain founded in 1969 by Dave Thomas. Wendy’s is famous for its square hamburgers, sea salt fries, and the Frosty, a signature frozen dairy dessert. Headquartered in Dublin, Ohio, Wendy’s operates a global network of company-owned and franchised stores.
- Market Cap: 2.35 billion
- Fair Value: $62.03
- Fair Value Upside: 24.8%
Scorpio Tankers Inc., together with its subsidiaries, engages in the seaborne transportation of crude oil and refined petroleum products in the shipping markets worldwide. As of March 21, 2024, its fleet consisted of 110 owned and leases financed tanker, including 39 LR2, 57 MR, and 14 Handymax with a weighted average age of approximately 8.1 years. Scorpio Tankers Inc. was incorporated in 2009 and is headquartered in Monaco.
- Market Cap: 1.953 billion
- Fair Value: $63.41
- Fair Value Upside: 17%
Carter’s Inc. (CRI) is a leading American designer and retailer of children’s apparel, primarily known for its brands Carter’s and OshKosh B’gosh. Founded in 1865 and headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, Carter’s specializes in clothing, accessories, and related products for babies and young children. The company offers a wide range of items, including sleepwear, playwear, and accessories, known for their quality, comfort, and affordability.
Virtus Investment Partners Inc (VRTS)
- Market Cap: 1.548 billion
- Fair Value: $235.11
- Fair Value Upside: 6.6%
Virtus Investment Partners Inc. (VRTS) is a publicly owned investment manager. It operates as a multi-manager asset management business, comprising a number of individual affiliated managers, each having its own investment process and brand, and the services of unaffiliated sub advisers. The firm primarily provides its services to individual and institutional clients. It launches separate client focused equity and fixed income portfolios.
- Market Cap: 1.5 billion
- Fair Value: $12.08
- Fair Value Upside: 30%
DHT Holdings, Inc., through its subsidiaries, owns and operates crude oil tankers primarily in Monaco, Singapore, and Norway. The company also offers technical management services. As of March 15, 2024, it had a fleet of 24 very large crude carriers. The company was incorporated in 2005 and is headquartered in Hamilton, Bermuda.
How to Find The Best Dividend Stocks
To start, we focused only on those U.S. stocks that have a market capitalization exceeding $1 billion as well as a significant market share, while presenting stable financial conditions for continuing the growth of their dividend payouts regardless of ongoing macro conditions.
In order to guarantee that we are not buying stocks that are already extremely expensive, a fair value assessment filter was added in the InvestingPro screener, which shows only those stocks that have growth potential going forward, thereby avoiding risks of a sudden, big drop in share price.
Further, a filter for dividend compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 5 years has also been incorporated in our stock screening criteria, which curates a list of only those companies that are consistently growing their payout ratios at 10% or more.
Here are the steps to finding top U.S.-based dividend stocks easily using Investing Pro:
- Click on the Screener tool.
- Select ‘Dividend Yield’ as a filter parameter on the Screener page, and set the threshold value to greater than 3%.
- Add a P/E Ratio filter and set the range between 0 and 30x.
- Add a further four metrics: Market Cap, Shareholder Yield, Fair Value Upside and Dividend CAGR (5y), setting their range to desired values. You can also follow our stock selection metrics as shown in the screenshot below.
- For U.S.-centric stocks, select ‘United States’ under the ‘Trading Region’ tab drop-down, and make sure to check (select) the ‘Primary Trading Item’ option.
- You can then see the list of all the companies falling in the desired screener filters’ range arranged in a descending order.
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