Dividend stocks can be valuable assets to hold right now. Although they may not be immune to the current bear market, if you're a long-term investor, you can profit from buying low today and selling high years later, long after the markets have recovered. Plus, if the stock is paying a sustainable yield, you can be collecting that payout along the way.
Two cheap dividend stocks that investors should consider buying today are Viatris (VTRS -0.69%) and Citizens Financial Group (CFG -1.46%). Both are down more than 20% year to date, but here's why they can be great additions to your portfolio for the long haul.
1. Viatris
At a forward price-to-earnings (P/E) multiple of just three, Viatris may look like a potential value trap from afar. And that may be one of the reasons investors haven't been eager to buy up the stock and its 4.5% yield, which pays far better than the S&P 500 average of 1.7%.
But Viatris' business isn't in any trouble, and the company could unlock some promising growth down the road. In February, the company announced it would be selling its biosimilars portfolio to Biocon Biologics for over $3.3 billion. The company says the move will improve its margins as well as free up capital that it says it can "redeploy in a more concentrated way." The company also left open the possibility of share repurchases.
Meanwhile, net sales for the first quarter, ended March 31, declined by 5% to 4.2 billion. While that may be concerning, the drugmaker believes it's on track to generate approximately $600 million worth of additional revenue this year due to new product launches.
Viatris generated positive free cash flow of $1.1 billion in Q1, which was more than enough to cover its dividend payments of $145 million during the three-month period. And adding to its coffers with the sale of its biosimilars portfolio only puts the company in a stronger financial position.
That means Viatris is in an excellent position to continue paying its dividend while also pursuing growth opportunities, making it an attractive income stock to buy and hold.
2. Citizens Financial
Another high-yielding stock to consider adding is Citizens Financial. This modestly sized bank stock has a market cap of $18 billion but pays a high dividend yield of 4.3%. Its payout ratio is less than 40%, making the dividend look incredibly safe. And the stock itself looks cheap, trading at a forward P/E multiple of 7.9; Citizens' peers Huntington Bancshares and Fifth Third Bancorp trade at 8.6 and 9.3 times their future earnings, respectively.
Citizens has gotten bigger through multiple acquisitions of late. In February, it closed a deal to acquire 80 East Coast branches plus an online deposit business from HSBC. More recently, in April, it acquired New Jersey-based Investors Bancorp. In total, these recent deals add 200-plus branches for the business in the highly coveted Northeast region. Citizens says the moves will give it a "top-10 deposit ranking in the key New York City Metro market." The bank currently has 1,200 branches and 3,300 ATMs across the country.
Citizens is eyeing growth and could be an exciting stock to hold in the sector. With the inclusion of its recent acquisitions, the company expects its net interest income to grow by as much as 30% this year, and non-interest income may rise by up to 7%.
With some solid growth prospects, a low valuation, and a top yield, Citizens Financial can be one of the better financial stocks to buy today.
