An ExxonMobil gas station in Washington, DC, on November 28, 2023.
Al Drago | Bloomberg | Getty Images
With the Federal Reserve in the process of cutting interest rates, dividend stocks may soon be in the spotlight.
Investors looking for lucrative dividend-paying stocks can track recommendations from top analysts who consider various aspects such as a company’s fundamentals and consistency of dividend payments before selecting a stock.
these are three dividend-paying stockshighlighted as Wall Street’s Top Professionals TipRanks is a platform that ranks analysts based on their past performance.
Exxon Mobil
This week’s first dividend pick is an oil and gas giant Exxon Mobil (XOM). The company recently announced better-than-expected results Third quarter resultsdriven by steady growth in output. It is worth noting that the company’s liquid production reached 3.2 million barrels per day, the highest level in more than 40 years.
The dividend aristocrat returned $9.8 billion to shareholders in the third quarter. Additionally, the company has added quarterly dividend It rose 4% to 99 cents a share. With this increase, ExxonMobil has raised its dividend for the 42nd consecutive year. The forward dividend rate for XOM stock is 3.3%.
Following the third-quarter report, Evercore analysts Stephen Richardson Reiterates buy rating on Exxon Mobil stock with price target of $135. The analyst noted that the company’s strategy is to invest through cycle troughs and increase spending on major projects and acquisitions. pioneer natural resources corp. boosted the prospects of its upstream business.
“The benefits of incremental investment and, perhaps more importantly, the high ratings of the asset base, place XOM in a different competitive position relative to the industry and its own historical performance,” Richardson said.
The analyst noted that the company’s operating cash flow (excluding changes in working capital) was $15.2 billion, which was the same as the previous quarter but exceeded his expectations by nearly $1.1 billion. He also highlighted that Exxon Mobil’s net debt decreased by $1.1 billion in the quarter, reflecting net working capital inflows of $2.3 billion.
Richardson is ranked No. 924 among more than 9,100 analysts tracked by TipRanks. His ratings were profitable 61% of the time, with an average return of 9.6%. look ExxonMobil shareholding structure On prompt ranking.
kotra energy corp.
We turn to another energy player, kotra energy corp. (CTRA). It is an exploration and production company with operations primarily in the Permian Basin, Marcellus Shale and Anadarko Basin. exist Season 3Shareholder returns represented 96% of the company’s free cash flow (FCF) and included a quarterly basic dividend of 21 cents per share and $111 million in share repurchases.
Coterra Energy aims to return 50% or more of its annual free cash flow to shareholders, and recently highlighted that it has returned 100% so far this year. The dividend yield on CTRA stock is 3%.
On November 13, Coterra announced two separate final agreement Acquired certain assets of Franklin Mountain Energy and Avant Natural Resources and their affiliates for a total of $3.95 billion. The company believes the acquisition of these two Permian Basin asset packages will expand its core territory in New Mexico and strengthen its organization.
Mizuho analysts react to the news Nitin Kumar Reiterate a buy rating on the stock with a price target of $37 and a “top pick” rating. While the acquired assets are less attractive than Coterra’s existing Permian inventory in terms of pure well capacity, its higher oil mix and lower well costs offset this shortcoming, he said.
While Kumar does not believe these acquisitions will be transformative, he remains bullish on CTRA’s long-term prospects, arguing that “as the lowest-cost natural gas producer, CTRA should be able to support higher cash generation than peers, even if prices are lower or differential.” , which complements Permian oil-driven FCF.
Kumar is ranked No. 187 among more than 9,100 analysts tracked by TipRanks. His ratings were profitable 64% of the time, with an average return of 14.3%. look Kotla Energy Stock Chart On prompt ranking.
Walmart
Finally let’s take a look Walmart (WMT). The big-box retailer’s performance is impressive Third quarter results and raised full-year guidance, driven by strength in its e-commerce business and improvements in categories outside of groceries.
Earlier this year, Walmart increased annual dividend per share The increase was about 9% to 83 cents per share, marking the 51st consecutive year of dividend increases.
Jefferies analysts after the results Corey Tallow Raised the price target on WMT stock to $105 from $100 and reiterated a buy rating. The analyst noted that the company’s same-store sales continued to be driven by higher transaction volumes, higher unit sales and favorable general merchandise trends.
Tallow emphasized that improved margins at Walmart helped deliver better-than-expected earnings this quarter. Specifically, WMT’s third-quarter gross margin improved by approximately 20 basis points due to a variety of reasons including improved e-commerce profitability, inventory management and favorable business mix. Additionally, operating margin expanded 10 basis points due to drivers such as higher gross margin and higher membership revenue.
The analyst also pointed out that Wal-Mart’s U.S. general merchandise sales have improved, thanks to factors such as increased variety and share growth among various income groups.
Overall, Tullow is bullish on the stock and is “increasingly encouraged by WMT’s ability to deliver enhanced value to customers, witness strong growth and expand share going forward.”
Tarlowe ranks No. 331 among more than 9,100 analysts tracked by TipRanks. His ratings were profitable 67% of the time, with an average return of 17.6%. look Walmart Hedge Fund Activity On prompt ranking.