5 Best Dividend Stocks To Buy In November

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Investing in stocks that pay dividends can be agreat way to build wealth over time, as companies that regularly dish out cash payments to their investors tend to outperform the market over the long-term. However, investors can't just pick any dividend paying company and expect to do well, as many other factors like the companies growth prospects  balance sheet, and valuation also need to be factored in to the equation. 

Knowing that, we asked a team of Motley Fool contributors to share a dividend paying stock that they think is a great buy in the month of November. Read their suggestions below and judge for yourself if you agree with their assessments. 

Dan Caplinger : One key aspect of a successful dividend stock is a consistent track record of raising its quarterly payouts on a regular basis. For Automatic Data Processing (ADP -0.38%), such increases have become a good habit, with the company sporting a 40-year streak of consecutive annual boosts to its payout.

Traditionally, ADP implements its dividend increases during November, with last year's boost coming mid-month. The current yield of 2.4% is just above the rate of the average stock, but when you consider the long-term growth trajectory of the dividend, it makes ADP shares more attractive to those who are seeking greater portfolio income.

At the same time, ADP has fundamental strength in the current macroeconomic environment. When job growth is strong and unemployment levels are low, ADP benefits from more of its enterprise clients coming to it for payroll and human-resources help, and those favorable trends tend to show up in its bottom-line results. In its most recent report, ADP's employer-services business saw 7% sales growth on a currency-adjusted basis, with U.S. client payroll counts rising 2.3% and helping to support the segment's results. When you consider growth potential and solid income, ADP deserves a closer look from income investors.

Brian Feroldi: At first glance, you may think its odd for me to suggest that a biotech stock would be a great place to find a strong dividend payer, but I think investors have just that with Gilead Sciences (GILD -1.15%) today. The company only recently started paying a dividend earlier this year, its value price has its shares currently yielding 1.5%, and I think the odds are good that its yield will grow quickly over time.

Gilead has been growing like gang-busters over the past few years thanks to its dominance in treating two diseases, HIV and Hepatitis C. The company currently sells several drugs in each disease state, but the company's recent fantastic growth is owed largely its two Hepatitis C drugs, Harvoni and Sovaldi, that combined have brought in more than $14 billion in revenue in the first 9 months of this year alone. 

Gilead also is looking to extend its lead in Hepatitis C, as it recently submitted a new drug for approval that has the potential to treat all 6 genotypes of the disease with a single, one daily pill, which is something that neither Harvoni or Sovaldi can currently claim. 

Looking ahead, the company has a huge $15 billion share repurchase authorized, and with a balance sheet that boasts more than $23 billion in cash, odds are good that the company will raise its dividend substantially in the coming months and years. 

And yet, despite everything that Gilead has going for it, shares are currently trading hands for only 10 times trailing earnings despite the fact that analysts are projecting profit growth of more than 16% annually over the next 5 years. I think thats a terrific bargain, and investors who are looking for yield and growth should give this company a look.

Matt Frankel: One dividend stock I'm considering for November is Equity Residential (EQR 0.96%), a real estate investment trust focused on upscale apartment properties, which pays a 2.85% dividend yield as of this writing.

There are a few reasons I like Equity. First, Equity is a leader in its specialty. The company owns 388 properties consisting of more than 108,000 apartments, and has another 6,000 units under development. Equity has the highest credit ratings in its sector, which gives it access to abundant capital to take advantage of opportunities. 

Second, the company has a strong history of good strategic management decisions, the latest of which involves selling $5.4 billion of the property portfolio and exiting the Denver and South Florida markets, which Equity's management feels no longer fit into the company's vision. Now, the company focuses on six key markets (New York, Boston, Washington, D.C., Seattle, San Francisco, and Southern California). All of these are high-growth markets with high barriers to entry, and as a result, rental demand is expected to grow faster than supply. 

Finally, demographics are favorable for the apartment market in general. Equity estimates that 8.3 million new households will be created in the U.S. between now and 2019, and that 60-70% of these households will be renters. When combined with the lowest homeownership rate since 1967, it's looking like a good time to be in the apartment business. 

Selena Maranjian: Fertilizer producer Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan (POT) is a particularly appealing dividend payer, with a recent yield of about 7%. The stock has fallen by about a third over the past year and has been struggling for longer than that, dealing with low prices for potash and the breakup of Russian potash cartels that had been keeping prices up. 

There's a lot to like about PotashCorp, though. For one thing, it has fallen so far that it's now trading at an appealing price, with recent and forward-looking price-to-earnings ratios near 12, well below the five-year average of about 20. Its long-term prospects are good, too, since fertilizer is rather necessary for agriculture, and our planet's population keeps growing, adding more mouths to feed. 

Based in Saskatchewan, the company has access to a lot of potash, giving it the advantage of being a low-cost producer, and its nitrogen and phosphates business serves to stabilize profits, as it can offset losses in potash when they occur. In addition, the company is winding down a multi-billion-dollar capital spending campaign that should position it for further growth and that will likely boost free cash flow.

PotashCorp's dividend isn't perfect. Shrinking income in recent years has driven up its payout ratio, and the company carries substantial debt, which can reduce its ability or willingness to hike its payouts significantly. Still, companies will go to great lengths to avoid cutting their dividend, and PotashCorp's current one offers a hefty yield these days. The stock is likely to reward long-term believers.