If you're retired or approaching retirement, you'll definitely want to consider including high-quality dividend stocks in your portfolio. These stocks provide steady income that you can count on. Some of them even offer attractive growth prospects as well. Even if retirement isn't on the horizon for a long time to come, you might still like the security of owning solid dividend stocks.
It's possible, though, that you could experience a case of "analysis paralysis" in choosing these stocks. Nearly 4,000 stocks traded on U.S. stock exchanges pay dividends. Don't worry if you don't have time to sift through all of them. Here are three top dividend stocks that are great picks to buy in June.
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AbbVie
Arguably the most important thing to know about AbbVie's (ABBV -1.03%) pedigree is that it's a Dividend Aristocrat. The big drugmaker has increased its dividend for 49 consecutive years. You'll also be glad to know that AbbVie offers a juicy dividend yield of 4.5%.
But how reliable will AbbVie's dividend be going forward? After all, sales of the company's top-selling drug, Humira, are likely to plunge beginning in 2023. That's when new biosimilars to the blockbuster autoimmune disease drug hit the U.S. market.
I don't think there's any reason to be worried. AbbVie has known for years that it was only a matter of time before Humira lost U.S. exclusivity. The company has developed its own pipeline candidates as well as completed strategic acquisitions with the goal of keeping its momentum going after Humira's sales fade.
AbbVie's strategy should work pretty well. Although the company expects overall revenue will fall in 2023 as Humira faces biosimilar rivals, it projects a quick return to modest growth the following year with robust revenue growth throughout the rest of the decade. The bottom line is that AbbVie seems likely to keep its streak of dividend hikes going for a long time to come.
Brookfield Renewable
You have a couple of ways to invest in Brookfield Renewable (BEP) (BEPC -0.09%). Both of them provide great dividends. Brookfield Renewable Partners, which trades under the ticker BEP, is a limited partnership (LP) with a dividend yield of just north of 3%. Brookfield Renewable Corporation, whose ticker is BEPC, sports a dividend yield of 2.9%.
Brookfield Renewable was originally formed as an LP but decided to create a new stock for investors to eliminate the tax headaches that can come with buying and selling LPs. There's only one underlying business -- and that business is exceptionally strong.
Investing in renewable energy stocks is a smart move right now, with Brookfield Renewable ranking among the best in the group. Brookfield Renewable operates a major renewable energy platform with hydroelectric, wind, solar, and storage facilities spread across four continents.
The demand for renewable energy is practically a slam-dunk to increase over the next decade and beyond as countries and corporations strive to reduce their carbon emissions. Brookfield Renewable appears to be in a strong position to capitalize on this rising demand with a development pipeline capacity that's significantly larger than its current installed capacity.
Easterly Government Properties
I can't think of many dividend stocks that are as rock-solid as Easterly Government Properties (DEA). The real estate investment trust (REIT) pays a mouth-watering dividend that currently yields more than 4.8%. More importantly, the company's dividend is as dependable as they come.
Easterly's name gives away its business model. The company focuses on buying properties and leasing them to the U.S. government. As of March 31, 2021, Easterly owned 82 properties with all but two of them leased to U.S. government agencies. Since then, the REIT has acquired two additional properties that it leased to federal agencies.
Darrell Crate, chairman of Easterly's board of directors, stated in the company's Q1 update, "The fundamentals of our business are strong, our pipeline is robust, and the credit quality of our underlying tenant, with leases backed by the full faith and credit of the U.S. government, remains the best of any public REIT out there." He was right. And he provided a compelling reason why Easterly Government Properties is a top dividend stock to buy right now.
