Are you looking for reliable dividend-paying stocks that offer juicy yields and the ability to raise their payouts much further by the time you're ready to retire? If so, these three stocks from the healthcare and finance sectors have you covered.
Right now all three of these top dividend stocks offer yields above the 3% threshold that many investors consider acceptable. More importantly, they have underlying businesses positioned for steady growth in the years ahead.
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AbbVie
AbbVie (ABBV 1.05%) is the biopharmaceutical company behind Humira, a top-selling drug for arthritis and psoriasis. The stock offers an above-average yield of 3.8% right now because Humira won't be on the list of top sellers for much longer. European Humira sales have already collapsed in the face of biosimilar competition that began a few years ago. Next year, biosimilars finally entering the U.S. market will weigh heavily on AbbVie's top line, as well.
Despite Humira's impending loss of exclusivity, AbbVie looks like a good dividend stock to buy now. For the past decade, the company has been investing the portion of Humira profits that it doesn't distribute to shareholders back into its development pipeline. Some of those investments are beginning to pay off in big ways.
Rinvoq, a treatment for arthritis, and Skyrizi, a treatment for psoriasis, are growing so fast they could offset Humira losses on their own. Both launched in 2019, and they're already on pace to deliver $8.4 billion in annual revenue. Earlier this year, AbbVie management predicted sales of Skyrizi and Rinvoq would exceed a combined $15 billion in 2025.
A long list of prescription drugs helped AbbVie generate an impressive $21 billion in free cash flow over the past twelve months. The company needed just 45% of the free cash flow generated by operations over the past year to meet its dividend commitment, which suggests it won't have trouble bumping the payout higher.
Medtronic
Medtronic (MDT -0.21%) is the world's largest manufacturer of medical devices. It's also a Dividend Aristocrat that has raised its payout for 45 consecutive years.
At recent prices, Medtronic offers a 3.4% yield. It also provides a chance to own two businesses for the price of one: In October, the company told investors it would spin off its patient monitoring and respiratory interventions businesses into a new company.
Spinning off respiratory interventions and patient monitoring will give Medtronic more time to focus on Hugo, a burgeoning robotic-assisted surgical system. In October, Hugo received a CE mark that will allow the company to market it for the general surgery indication throughout the European Union. With a path to enter robotic surgery and other lucrative markets, this company could keep raising its payout for another 45 years.
Ally Financial
Ally Financial (ALLY 0.86%) is the world's oldest all-digital bank. It was originally a financial subsidiary of General Motors, so as you can imagine, it originates a lot of auto loans.
Fear of a potential recession hammering auto sales is hanging over Ally, and dragging on its share price. As a result, the shares offer a juicy 4.6% yield at recent prices.
Ally Financial has raised its quarterly payout by 150% since it began paying began a dividend in 2017. Despite the rapid raises, it used less than 18% of free cash flow generated over the past year to meet its dividend obligation. With such a well-funded dividend program, it's going to take more than a temporary auto-sales slowdown to keep Ally from maintaining its streak of annual payout raises.
Rapidly rising interest rates could pinch profitability in the near term. Over the next several years, though, the gap between the rates Ally Financial pays on consumer bank deposits and the rates it receives from its lending products will get significantly wider. That's the classic recipe for rapidly rising bank profits.
